How times have changed.

More than 30 years ago, Irvin Kershner was announced as the director of "The Empire Strikes Back," the first sequel to "Star Wars." Kershner was a curious choice -- a director of documentaries, star vehicles and TV episodes -- but in the days before the Internet, the announcement raised hardly a fuss.

On the other hand, last week J.J. Abrams -- a seemingly unimpeachable choice, with his producing, directing and writing experiences on "Lost," "Fringe," "Super 8" and the rebooted "Star Trek" -- was announced as the director of the forthcoming "Star Wars VII."

And the world went nuts.

"Another franchise for him to ruin," a reader named "hey" wrote on CNN's Marquee blog.

"Lost sucked, cloverfield sucked and now the new star wars movies are going to suck worse than the last 3," added screen name "horrible pick."

Whew. Can you imagine what kind of reaction Kershner would have gotten? "There would have been blood in the water," says Shaun Rosado, a pop-culture blogger who puts out a weekly podcast called Shauncastic!

But that's the world we live in now, says Suzanne Scott, a self-described "fan-scholar" who teaches at Occidental College in Los Angeles.

"What I find so interesting is, when you talk about the online, 24-hour news cycle, you have these knee-jerk responses. It's panic," she says. "It shows the power and pervasiveness of fan culture."

Rosado understands the concern.

"In the annals of geek history, there's always been the argument: Which one is better, 'Star Wars' or 'Star Trek'? And until this point, we've never had a director sit down and do both of them," he says. "This is the first time, where we will literally have somebody who's played both sides of the field, and I think a lot of nerds and geeks are a little bit terrified of that."

Lucas 2.0

Since getting the job -- after initial reports he wasn't interested -- Abrams has at least said all the right things.

"To be a part of the next chapter of the 'Star Wars' saga ... is an absolute honor," Abrams said in a statement released by Disney, which owns Lucas' production company Lucasfilm. "I may be even more grateful to George Lucas now than I was as a kid."

Moreover, Lucas has given his blessing.

"I've consistently been impressed with J.J. as a filmmaker and storyteller," Lucas said. "He's an ideal choice to direct the new 'Star Wars' film, and the legacy couldn't be in better hands."

Certainly Abrams would seem a logical selection. He's kind of a "Lucas 2.0," with his producing, directing and writing experience.

"Hate him or love him, here's a guy who's worked in multiple genres across multiple media and has his own production company -- which is way more established than George Lucas was when 'Star Wars' came out," says Dan Herbert, a film professor at the University of Michigan.

Abrams says the original 1977 film left a lasting impression on him.

"As a kid I was always a fan of special effects," he told Entertainment Weekly in November. "Watching movies I was constantly trying to figure out how they did it, whatever the effect was. 'Star Wars' was the first movie that blew my mind in that way."