When Disney first announced a theme park land dedicated to Star Wars fans of the galaxy far, far away obviously went wild. One of the most popular franchises in film history was getting not just an attraction, which it had since Star Tours opened in the '80s, but an entire land dedicated to it. It promised a level of immersion that Disney Parks had not provided before.
However, not every fan got exactly what they wanted. Part of the land’s strategy to make guests feel like they were on their own Star Wars adventure was to set the land in a place and time, specifically, in the middle of Star Wars then underway sequel trilogy, meaning several of Star Wars most iconic characters, like Han Solo and Darth Vader, would never appear.
Over the past few years that rigid storytelling has become more flexible as characters from outside that specific era have begun to appear. But now Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is taking its biggest step to date away from the sequel trilogy by bringing in its first original trilogy character. Today Disney Parks revealed on Instagram that Luke Skywalker is coming to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland.
Luke Skywalker is dressed in black, showing that the version of the character we’re getting will be based on his Return of the Jedi look. More details are promised to come on February 10, but it’s clear the plan is for Luke to make his debut at the beginning of Season of the Force, the Star Wars-themed celebration happening at Disneyland from March 28 - May 11.
There’s a pretty good chance he’ll also be part of Star Wars Nite, the after-hours ticketed event running select nights in April and May. Whether Luke will only be appearing as a special offering during the Star Wars event or will make regular appearances going forward is unclear, we may get those details when more is revealed next week.
Needless to say, a lot of fans are quite happy to see Luke Skywalker finally appear as a character in Galaxy’s Edge. They were disappointed that the previous story prevented him from showing up. The land was supposed to be set following the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, so even having an older Luke appear was off the table.
The only negative response to this news is that so far Luke has only been announced to appear at Disneyland. While the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney World is nearly identical to the one at Disneyland, most of the newer characters that have appeared at Batuu West that have broken the timeline, like Boba Fett, Ahsoka Tano, and Sabine Wren, have not gone east. The only characters outside of the original timeline to show up in Orlando thus far have been The Mandalorian and Grogu.
With the damn now broken as it relates to original characters, one has to wonder how far off the rest of them are. I’d say it’s a question of when, not if, we’ll see the likes of Princess Leia, Han Solo, or Darth Vader.
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