Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge is the Star Wars-themed land in Disneyland and Hollywood Studios in Walt Disney World. The land itself is based on a planet created by Imagineers just for this land called Batuu with the focus on a town called Black Spire Outpost. The timeline of Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge has been followed fairly strictly as the time in the Star Wars universe aligns most closely with the sequel trilogy.
You won't see classic Star Wars characters from the original trilogy or prequels in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge due to this timeline. Despite my own love of the sequels, I think it's time that Disney got rid of the timeline in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge! This is Disney's biggest mistake with Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
With the D23 Expo coming up, we are very hopeful that these changes could be announced. It's something that would immediately breath new life into the land.
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Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge Big Mistake
Imagineers have said that the story of Batuu and its village of Black Spire Outpost takes place at some point within the current trilogy. The original reasoning for this timeline choice is it would give Imagineers the freedom to change the land as new movies come out and the Star Wars universe continues to grow. Everything that has been included in Batuu is official Star Wars cannon so this new storyline has become a part of the Star Wars universe.
However, this timeline limits the characters and stories in the land to the specific time frame in the midst of the sequel trilogy which includes A Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and Rise of Skywalker. There are no classic characters from the original or prequel films to be found in the land including favorites like Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala, or Obi-Wan Kenobi.
The available characters in the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge have included:
- Kylo Ren
- Stormtroopers
- First Order Generals
- Rey
- Chewbacca
- Vi Moradi
- Vi Moradi is a newer character in the Star Wars universe and was first introduced in the 2017 novel Phasma which dives into Captain Phasma’s backstory.
- R2-D2
We have seen Disney relax the timeline a bit to bring in characters from the popular Disney+ shows like the Mandalorian, Grogu (Baby Yoda), Boba Fett & Fennec Shand. These characters have all been a hit with Mando and Grogu easily drawing the largest crowds. It was announced that these characters won't distract from the timeline and won't interact with the characters from the sequel trilogy. In fact, you rarely even see these characters out at the same time as sequel characters.
It is a promising step to see Disney begin to relax the rigid rule of staying focused on the Batuu timeline and the positive response from guests only fuels my argument that it is time to let go of this timeline completely in a similar way that Avengers Campus operates.
Comparison to Avengers Campus
The way that Avengers Campus has approached their timeline… or lack thereof… has been absolutely great. There is a bit of a rough timeline at Avengers Campus as we see with the WEB Slingers attraction. This appears pre-Infinity War as any notable character deaths have obviously not happened. But the land really does not get caught up in the specifics which helps the success of all these character interactions.
It's just way more fun. Because at the end of the day, who cares? Guests are here to meet their favorite and most iconic characters. Since Avengers Campus is not hung up on any specific timeline, they can easily grant that request. I don't think the average guest is primarily invested in what specific timeline a theme park land is following.
Over at Avengers Campus, guests can meet the most iconic heroes like Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, Black Widow, and Loki while still incorporating new characters into the land. Despite the fact that in the current Avengers timeline, many of these characters have died, guests can still meet them in the land.
With every Disney+ Marvel show, we've seen Avengers Campus add these new characters into the land with ease. This method is working beautifully over at Avengers Campus, why not do the same at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge? Can you imagine the excitement if guests saw Luke Skywalker or Han Solo wandering around the land? It would be the same hype invested Marvel fans feel when they see Captain America or Iron Man strolling past.
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Success of Star Wars After Dark Characters
We have seen this success take off with the Star Wars Nite event at Disneyland as this ticketed event brings out many classic characters from the original trilogy, prequels, and even the animated series. The lines for these character experiences are longer than any other experience in the park during this event. This just goes to show how popular these characters are. In fact, the line for the Ewoks easily reached three hours during Star Wars Nite because guests were so excited! Some of the characters we've seen at Star Wars Nite in the past include:
- Ezra
- Sabine
- Captain Rex
- the Seventh Sister
- BB-8
- C1-10P
- Ewoks
- R5-D4
- Jawas
- Queen Amidala
- Anakin Skywalker
- Darth Vader
- Darth Maul
- Luke Skywalker
- Princess Leia
- R2-D2
- Emperor Palpatine and his Royal Guard
- the cantina band
While after-hours events are known for having rare characters, this is a big part of their appeal, the argument could be made that some of these characters would greatly enhance the atmosphere at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
While the Cantina band floating along the Rivers of America should be exclusive to Star Wars Nite, many of these other characters would fit in easily at Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge.
Even if Disney did not want to bend the timeline, what about the incorporation of more aliens in the land that many Disney guests associate with the original movies? Imagine Ewoks wandering around Batuu or Jawas eyeballing the displays outside Savi's Workshop. These interactions would build those same connections of nostalgia many Star Wars fans have with the original trilogy easily.
Star Wars Hotel Failure
Some have criticized that one of the reasons that the Star Wars Galactic Starcruiser, Disney World's premium hotel Star Wars experience, failed was due to the lack of original characters. While I do not agree with that, the price was definitely the leading factor in the hotel's failure, the sentiment of guests wanting more interactions with original characters is present.
I do not think bringing in Luke Skywalker would have saved the Galactic Starcruiser. The price was just too out of reach for so many middle-class families for a short two-day experience. The hotel experience itself looked amazingly immersive and a magical time for all Star Wars fans.
But just the fact that we read so many comments from fans calling out for more interactions with these original characters demonstrates that throwing out the Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge timeline would go over big. And honestly, it would just be pure fun. Isn't that what theme parks should be about anyways? I do not think the average guest cares about a strict cannon-oriented timeline (although I do appreciate this level of dedication from Imagineers) and they just want to get a picture with Luke Skywalker. So let's have some fun and throw out the timeline.
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The biggest problem with Galaxy’s Edge is that there is no shade. I think that’s a good change to start with. Just mee.
The main reason Galaxy’s Edge is that way is because of the heavy hand George Lucas had in designing it. It took 10 years from concept to fruition because George would not budge on many of his ideas for the area. There was much back and forth that happened between Disney and George. Keep in mind when the design started it was before Disney had full rights of Star Wars. There is definitely more to it than they just wanted a storyline, George dictated most of the concept and design.