Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is moving further away from its original concept — at least in Disneyland.
The land, which was initially set within the “Star Wars” sequel trilogy when it first opened in 2019, is breaking what remains of that once-strict continuity by welcoming in characters from the original films, including Darth Vader, Princess Leia, Han Solo and Luke Skywalker starting on April 29.
Here’s how the change was described on the official Disney Parks Blog:
Black Spire Outpost will roll back in time several decades, thoughtfully introducing beloved characters from across the Star Wars timeline, new props and graphics in some areas, musical selections from Star Wars film scores throughout the land and more. Each era will be brought to life with the same care and attention to detail that the land was originally designed with, masterfully weaving together stories from across time and space in one location.
The inclusion of characters from the original trilogy continues a transformation that began in 2022, when Disney first introduced characters from “The Mandalorian” TV series to Galaxy’s Edge.
Since the series is set at least two decades before the events of the sequel trilogy, Disney kept characters from different eras from crossing paths by limiting the newcomers to the Black Spire Outpost section while keeping sequel characters such as Rey by the area surrounding Star Wars: Rise of the Resistance.
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Now, Galaxy’s Edge will essentially be split into three timelines: the sequel trilogy and its characters remain around Rise of the Resistance. Characters from the Disney+ series set between the trilogies will stick to the marketplace area and the original trilogy will be represented in the rest of Black Spire Outpost.
As part of the changes, shops in Black Spire Outpost will be altered to fit the earlier timeline, with First Order Cargo being changed in Black Spire Surplus, “offering artifacts from across the history of the galaxy, including Imperial and Rebel items from the Galactic Civil War,” according to Disney.
The land will also now feature music from the first six “Star Wars” films composed by John Williams.
Disney said some of the enhancements may appear “over the next couple months” before their official April 29 debut.
For now, the changes only apply to Disneyland’s version of Galaxy’s Edge, with the land at Disney’s Hollywood Studios at Disney World remaining the same. But even the Florida land will ditch its original continuity to some extent later this year, when Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run gets a new mission based around Mandalorian and Grogu this May.