Guests Are Criticizing Disneyland’s Newest Character Encounter. I Completely Disagree.

Disneyland's Star Wars Season of the Force celebration has brought some exciting new offerings to the park, including a very impressive new projection show and the appearance of a beloved character from the original films in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.

Luke Skywalker just made his debut in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, and he will make appearances for a limited time during the celebration. This is the first time Luke will be a recurring character at Disneyland, as he has only ever previously appeared during Disneyland After Dark Star Wars Nite parties with Leia as portrayed in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. While Luke was undoubtedly extremely popular upon his debut, there has been some criticism from fans about whether or not he looks the part. Keep reading for my thoughts on why I disagree with the criticism and why this particular portrayal of Luke is actually a brilliant move for the land.

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Luke Skywalker Portrayal In Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge

When Disney first announced that Luke would be coming to Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge, we wrote about how this was such a major deal for the land that has in the past adhered pretty rigidly to the timeline of the sequels. Over the past few years, we have seen Disney start to introduce more characters from the Disney+ Star Wars shows like Sabine Wren, Hera Syndulla, Ahsoka, Boba Fett, Fennec Shand, and Din Djarin and Grogu.

Now, Disney has finally introduced none other than Luke Skywalker to the land! However, since his debut, there has been some harsh criticism from fans about the character's portrayal and how he doesn't look like Luke. One of the commenters on our Facebook post about Luke mentioned that he looks more like he’d be in High School Musical than Star Wars.

I'll admit that I was a little skeptical when I first saw the footage and photos Disney released for the character the morning of the celebration (seen below). I thought that he looked quite young and was apprehensive about this portrayal of the character.

I also had really tempered my expectations for this interaction, as the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge characters in the past have, in my experience, acted at times rather aloof and unapproachable. This is something that I was expecting in particular for Luke based on his portrayal in The Mandalorian, which is the timeline that he is in for this appearance.

Like we expected, Luke was completely swarmed with crowds upon his arrival at Batuu, much like Ahsoka was when she first debuted. You could really feel the excitement in the air.

However, what completely surprised me was how approachable and engaging Luke was. He really went out of his way to make time for every person he could. He came right up to me during a quieter moment when he was looking for R2-D2 and invited me to walk through the marketplace with him and talk. This tactic was a great way to keep the crowds from accumulating too quickly around him, as he was so popular and had to pretty much constantly keep moving. Luke mentioned that he was called to Batuu by the Force and is in search of Jedi texts.

I also observed he interacted with the kids who came up to him, and you could tell that he really made them feel special. I've seen more than one video of him holding hands with the kids as they walk through the land, which is really heartwarming. You can see one of these moments shared further in the article below. As a Star Wars fan, I can only imagine how much of a core memory that must have been for those kids to be taken under the wing of the legendary Luke Skywalker.

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This portrayal of a composed, kind, and conscientious Luke is—in my opinion—exactly what is needed for a character interaction. These character encounters are more than just looking the part. They're about the experience of fans getting to feel like they are part of their favorite stories for a moment in time. Having a Luke who is so willing to engage and make fans' days more magical is what is going to make this a reality. Plus, while the character does look a little young, it is not a deal-breaker in my opinion, and the costume overall is fantastic.

Check out this video from Disway80 (@disway80 on Instagram) showing how great Luke is interacting with the kids!

 

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A post shared by Disway80 (@disway80)

We also got the chance to speak to Michael Serna, Executive Creative Director of Disney Live Entertainment, and Matt Martin, Senior Creative Executive of Lucasfilm, about Luke's debut as part of a media event on the first day of the celebration.

Serna shared some thoughts about Luke's appearance in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge and how we got to the point where this could become a possibility in the land. “So there's been an evolution, as we've gone through. We opened [Galaxy's Edge], and then we have sort of looked and listened to the fans to see what is interesting to people out there, and we always want to tell a story that's relevant, that is interesting, that connects to people directly, right? We know the story we started definitely did that. As we kind of talked together from Lucasfilm and Imagineering, we said, what other stories are important to people?”

He then talked about how they brought the Mandalorian to the land and how when they put Luke in the show, “we felt now this is a perfect synergy that allows us this moment to rethink, does this character now arrive, and, you know, maybe here's here and looking for Grogu as he is in the series, and it just felt like [for] this important character it was a good time to let him arrive here and meet guests for the first time.”

We look forward to Disneyland introducing more of the classic characters to the theme parks moving forward. My picks? Darth Vader, C-3PO, Anakin, and Padme. Oh, and maybe Jar Jar Binks if we are ever so lucky.

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