By George & Josh Bate
Beginning of April 29, 2026, Disneyland Resort’s Star Wars: Galaxy Edge will embrace a new timeline, new characters, and new features.
Galaxy’s Edge as it was originally conceived was an in-universe experience taking place between the events of The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. In order to create a lived-in experience for visitors, Galaxy’s Edge avoided any contradictions to canon and did not feature John Williams’ signature music, instead playing original music and radio broadcasts appropriate to the era. That’s all changing now, however.
New Heroes and Villains Incoming
Galaxy’s Edge is dialing back the clock to span the events between Return of the Jedi and The Mandalorian moving forward. This means that Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia Organa will now be characters walking around that fans can bump into. Lucasfilm senior creative executive Matt Martin revealed that Leia’s look is “inspired by some comic book appearances from this era, as well as the look that she had in Star Wars Battlefront II, the video game.”
This change mean that Kylo Ren will no longer be a character walking around Galaxy’s Edge. He will, however, still be featured in the beloved Rise of the Resistance ride.
Rey, meanwhile, will remain as a walk-around character, albeit solely around the Rise of the Resistance ride.
Ahsoka Tano, Chewbacca, R2-D2, and C-3PO will also walk around Galaxy’s Edge.
A Soundtrack Fitting for a Galaxy Far, Far Away
For the first time ever, John Williams’ iconic score from the first six Star Wars films will be placed at Galaxy’s Edge. This means that in Oga’s Cantina you can hear DJ R-3X play the beloved “Cantina Band.”
A comic series to usher in this new era for Galaxy’s Edge
To make the change in timeline as immersive as possible, Marvel Comics will soon release a tie-in comic series explaining how and why the Empire and Rebels come to the planet Batuu.
Same Locations, Different Looks
One of the biggest structural changes to Galaxy’s Edge will be the removal of the existing First Order Cargo, which will be refreshed and retitled as the Black Spire Surplus. This is described as a military supply shop filled with exclusive offerings from around the galaxy.
The Black Spire Surplus has a backstory, according to Martin. It was founded by two former clone troopers, who fought alongside each other in the Clone Wars. Years later, during the reign of the Empire, one of them joined the Empire, while the other joined the Rebellion. As they aged, however, they became friends again and opened up their own business venture on Batuu.
Changes will also be made to Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, Savi’s Workshop, and the Droid Depot to reflect the earlier time period.
Don’t Forget About The Mandalorian and Grogu
And, of course, who could forget about everyone’s favorite father-son duo from a galaxy far, far away. Aligned with the release of the new movie, Din Djarin and Grogu will soon feature in a brand-new mission at Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run beginning in May 2026. The mission will see you team up with Din Djarin and Grogu as they track down Imperial officers and claim a bounty.