Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Brings the Original Trilogy Leads to a Newly Updated Batuu
Last week, on January 14, 2026, Lucasfilm and Disney Parks announced the first truly major change to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge since its opening on both coasts in 2019. Only at Disneyland in California, at least for now, “Black Spire Outpost is expanding its timeline, introducing elements from the events of the original film trilogy.” The shift will happen on April 29, days prior to the usual May the Fourth festivities and several weeks ahead of the theatrical release of The Mandalorian & Grogu and the corresponding update and revision to the Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Ride attraction (always announced as coming to the ride at Hollywood Studios in Florida, as well). Unlike previous limited-run character appearances at Disneyland, this is not a seasonal event or temporary modification timed with a Disney+ series. Instead, it is an indefinite alteration to Batuu West going forward.
For many fans, the most visually noticeable change will be the switch in Galaxy’s Edge roaming characters from the Sequel Trilogy to the Original Trilogy. Luke Skywalker will return to Galaxy’s Edge, having appeared previously in connection with The Mandalorian. This time he’ll be joined by his sister Leia and his friends Han Solo and Chewbacca, who will finally be seen in the park with their iconic Millennium Falcon. Interestingly, Leia will wear a new costume for the park; according to Lucasfilm senior creative executive Matt Martin: “This is Leia’s adventure look. It’s 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. But this is really the first time we get to see it physically created on a person.” Other hero characters from Galaxy’s Edge will continue to roam the land, including Mando and Grogu, Ahsoka, and Artoo. (As for the Sequel Trilogy characters, Rey will now appear exclusively in the Resistance base area near the Rise of the Resistance attraction, and Kylo Ren will be found only in the Tomorrowland meet-and-greet photo area.)
Of course, the Original Trilogy change wouldn’t be complete without Darth Vader, who will be accompanied by stormtroopers for his appearances in the former First Order area of Black Spire Outpost. The docked TIE Echelon, which hosted Kylo Ren or First Order officers for scripted stage moments on the landing platform, originated in an unused concept art design during development of Episode IX under director Colin Trevorrow. The Imagineers have crafted a retcon for how Vader could arrive in one on Batuu, as explained by Asa Kalama, vice president executive for creative and interactive experiences at Walt Disney Imagineering: “One of the lesser-known facts about the TIE Echelon is that it’s actually an Imperial-era ship,” so Kylo Ren’s use of it is “sort of like a vintage car” – which is admittedly an apt George Lucas homage as retcons go.
To accompany the shift to the Imperial era of the timeline, the First Order Cargo shop will be reskinned as the Black Spire Surplus store, no longer limited to merchandise affiliated with only one faction. Fans also can expect era-appropriate changes to the merchandise available in Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities, Savi’s Workshop, and Droid Depot.
As with the initial opening of Galaxy’s Edge in 2019, Marvel will publish a five-issue tie-in comic to provide backstory and lore for the new era of Black Spire Outpost. Writer Ethan Sacks returns to Batuu for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire, with art by Jethro Morales and Roi Mercado and covers from Phil Noto.
The other change that will excite many fans is the announcement that numerous tracks from the iconic John Williams scores for the Original Trilogy films will play as ambient music in Black Spire Outpost. Replacing the previous in-universe radio broadcast and in-universe sound effects, titles such as the “Main Theme” and “Force Theme” will be heard in Galaxy’s Edge comparable to MCU musical cues in Avengers Campus or familiar themes from the pertinent movies near rides like Frozen Ever After or Remy’s Ratatouille Adventure in Epcot or Radiator Springs Racers in California Adventure. In addition, the classic “Cantina Band” rendition from A New Hope will join the playlist inside Oga’s Cantina.
At this time, the prospects remain unclear about whether the same, or potentially alternative, changes may eventually be coming to Batuu East, the Galaxy’s Edge in Hollywood Studios at Walt Disney World. The Disney Parks in Florida and California have a long history of offering different Star Wars experiences to their guests. For a number of years, for example, Hollywood Studios held Star Wars Weekends events during the slow months in late spring, with no equivalent at Disneyland. More recently, Disneyland has hosted Season of the Force with limited-run food and beverage offerings, the Hyperspace Mountain overlay, and other special experiences in Tomorrowland to accompany seasonal programming in Galaxy’s Edge. Due to the presence of the ultimately short-lived Galactic Starcruiser experience, Batuu East kept its character appearances and other lore more tightly constrained to the timeline placement between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker to ensure consistency with the storyline elements needed for the voyage’s Black Spire Outpost excursion. With the Starcruiser shuttered, that constraint no longer exists. In the short term, however, Disney Parks is unambiguous that only Batuu West at Disneyland is changing.
Having covered Star Wars in the Disney Parks for over fifteen years, including from the first news of the planned Star Wars Land expansions, it is notable how the Imagineers are describing these new changes relative to their previous remarks. For example, consistent with longstanding messaging about the land, the announcement reports Kalama’s goal that the changes create “a Galaxy’s Edge that feels more immersive than ever, inviting visitors to experience their own Star Wars stories in an all-new way.” Unlike the extant version of Galaxy’s Edge, which functionally limits fans’ own imagined stories in Black Spire Outpost to the timeframe of the Sequel Trilogy, the new Batuu West will open up the interactive and an in-universe aspects of the land to a much broader span of the Star Wars timeline. Kalama also repeats a point that arose intermittently: “We’ve always seen Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge as a platform for storytelling, a land that would continue to live and grow and evolve” as Lucasfilm continued to release more Star Wars stories into the future of the franchise. While some of Black Spire Outpost is generally timeline-neutral enough to accommodate new stories, like the addition of Mando or Ahsoka as roaming characters in the central marketplace area, the scale of the changes coming after only six years of operation could not have been what they had in mind: revising one of the two flagship rides, retconning a major location, reskinning a store, and completely altering the ambient audio for most of the land.
Writing in the Los Angeles Times, longtime Disney Parks journalist Todd Martens expresses similar sentiments. “In a shift from its original ambitions,” he writes, “the land will no longer be primarily set in the time period of the recent ‘Star Wars’ sequels.” Having reported on Star Wars Land from its inception, he notes that the new changes “mark a significant tweak from the intent of the land, which was designed as an active, play-focused area that broke free from traditional theme park trappings … Galaxy’s Edge was a theme park experiment, asking how deeply guests would want to engage in physical spaces.” As it turns out, guests to the Star Wars land generally want a similar experience to Avengers Campus or Radiator Springs, Fantasyland or Adventureland. The “reworking of the land to incorporate the franchise’s classic (and arguably more popular) characters,” Martens assesses, “feels in some part an acknowledgment that theme park visitors likely crave familiarity over ongoing narratives designed to play make-believe.”
The changes to Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland in 2026 bring the land closer to what most Disney Parks guests and Star Wars fans had hoped to experience all along. Hopefully Batuu East doesn’t have to wait too long for its own reworking.
Related Links:
- Darth Vader and Other Original Trilogy Updates Coming to Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland (StarWars.com; Jan. 14, 2026)
- Disneyland is pivoting on ‘Star Wars’ Land. Here’s why (Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times; Jan. 14, 2026)
- New Marvel Comic Series Sheds Light on New Timeline at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge (Jedi News; Jan. 15, 2026)
FANgirl Blog Links:
- Star Wars Celebration Orlando 2017: Disney Parks Star Wars Experiences (Apr. 2017)
- Star Tours: New Characters and Locations Mark Narrative Shift To Ride (Nov. 2017)
- Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Preview at Galactic Nights (Jan. 2018)
- At Galaxy’s Edge, Choose Your Own Adventure (June 2018)
- Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge News from Destination D (Nov. 2018)
- Lots of New Details in Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge Press Previews (Mar. 2019)
- Galaxy’s Edge Opening Dates Confirmed (Mar. 2019)
- Star Wars Celebration Chicago 2019: Bringing Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge to Life at Disney Parks (Apr. 2019)
- Disney Parks Panel: Star Wars Celebration Anaheim 2022 (June 2022)
- Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023: Disney Parks (Apr. 2023)
- Star Wars Celebration Japan 2025: Disney Experiences: Building the Galaxy with Walt Disney Imagineering (May 2025)
B.J. has served as editor of FANgirl Blog from its inception, as well as contributing reviews and posts on a range of topics. He edited Tricia’s novel Wynde, and is collaborating with her on several future projects set in that original universe.
Currently a tenured law professor in Florida, B.J. has been a practicing lawyer in Washington, D.C., a law clerk to a federal appeals court judge, and a law journal editor-in-chief. He is also a proud geek dad whose son who is a big fan of Star Wars and The Clone Wars.
