Disneyland welcomes a new Star Wars era to Galaxy's Edge
Darth Vader's search for Luke Skywalker has brought him to Batuu with a squadron of Imperial Stormtroopers now that Walt Disney Imagineering has expanded the Star Wars timeline in Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge to include the original trilogy of movies.
Darth Vader, Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia meet-and-greet characters started making appearances on Wednesday, April 29 in Star Wars: Galaxy's Edge at the Anaheim theme park after Imagineering introduced storylines from the "Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi" eras of the sweeping space opera.
Iconic John Williams orchestral scores and themes from the first six Star Wars films also started playing Wednesday as background music in Galaxy's Edge.
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Disneyland brought back Hyperspace Mountain and released a new line of Aurebesh merchandise and collectible popcorn buckets earlier this week just in time for the annual run of Star Wars Nite after-hours parties.
The expanded Star Wars timeline in Galaxy's Edge rolled out ahead of the new mission starring the Mandalorian and Grogu coming to Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run on May 22.
A few hundred people gathered for Darth Vader's arrival beneath a TIE fighter Wednesday that led into a brief 2-minute stage show and set up his search for Luke Skywalker.
"I have come for an enemy of the Empire," Vader said.
A mob of seemingly unafraid fans with their smartphones held high followed after Vader as he strode toward Droid Depot flanked by a pair of stormtroopers.
In a nearby spaceport, Leia and Chewbacca conducted a preflight inspection of the Millennium Falcon as a hundred fans watched.
Leia grabbed a ratchet wrench and tightened some loose bolts on the ship.
The leader of the rebellion chatted with young kids carrying Princess Leia dolls and wearing Boba Fett masks.
"You saw Darth Vader?" A shocked Leia said to a starstruck young fan. "Don't tell him we're here."
Over near the marketplace, Rey quizzed a young visitor about their journeys in Batuu.
"Have you seen anything suspicious?" Rey asked.
"I heard Darth Vader was over there," the visitor said, pointing toward Droid Depot.
"Then I'll stay away from there," Rey said.
Despite the concern, Vader never ran into any of the resistance fighters scattered throughout Black Spire Outpost.
Times for the character appearances appeared in the Disneyland app, making it easier for fans to find their favorites.
Original trilogy storytelling in Galaxy's Edge on Wednesday was focused near the Millennium Falcon, Oga's Cantina and TIE Echelon Fighter.
Leia Organa showed up near the Falcon recruiting travelers and locals to help keep Luke safe. Darth Vader made appearances near the TIE Fighter with a pair of Imperial Stormtroopers.
Rey, the main protagonist in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, stuck around the forested area on the outskirts of Black Spire Outpost near the Rise of the Resistance attraction.
Imagineering and Lucasfilm have been careful to introduce the original trilogy characters in Galaxy's Edge in a way that's authentic to their locations and relationships to each other.
You won't see Darth Vader and Kylo Ren appearing side by side in Galaxy's Edge since the two Star Wars villains were never alive at the same time during the sweeping epic. Darth Vader dies a year before the birth of Kylo Ren in the Star Wars saga.
The Kylo Ren meet-and-greet character has left Galaxy's Edge and gone over to Star Wars Launch Bay in Tomorrowland for photo ops - replacing Darth Vader.
The backstory for some of the Black Spire Outpost shops has changed a bit with the timeline shift in Galaxy's Edge.
First Order Cargo has become a military salvage operation offering Imperial and Rebel artifacts from the Galactic Civil War. The new Black Spire Surplus is now run by two brothers who fought on opposite sides in the Clone Wars.
Droid Depot has been taken over by an earlier generation of the Mubo family that has run the Batuu droid-building shop for years.
Dok-Ondar’s Den of Antiquities rolled out a new line of merchandise tied to the expanded Star Wars storyline.
Oga Garra still runs the cantina, but the proprietor now is relatively new to Black Spire Outpost in the expanded timeline and yet to take control of the Batuu underworld as the local crime boss.
Galaxy's Edge opened in 2019 with a very limited timeline focused on the sequel era of stories and characters set between "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker."
The Star Wars galactic calendar marks time on either side of the attack on the Death Star, known as the Battle of Yavin. Dates fall before the Battle of Yavin (BBY) or after the universe-saving attack (ABY).
Up until now, Galaxy's Edge has been set between 34 and 35 ABY in Black Spire Outpost, the outer rim village on the Star Wars planet of Batuu.
Imagineering's expansion of the Star Wars timeline in Disneyland's Galaxy's Edge now stretches from 3 ABY during the Empire Strikes Back era to 35 ABY during the Rise of Skywalker era.
Disney's creative arm has been very careful not to introduce any new characters or storylines that would upset the galactic timeline in Galaxy's Edge - which is considered canon in Star Wars lore.
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This story was originally published April 29, 2026 at 10:33 AM.