An official promotional piece for Star Wars’ May the 4th day appears to only feature a single shot from Disney’s sequel trilogy.
(L-R): Grogu and Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) in Lucasfilm’s THE MANDALORIAN, season three, exclusively on Disney+. ©2023 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM. All Rights Reserved.
Lucasfilm and The Walt Disney Company released an one minute and twenty-nine second video titled “Happy May the Fourth, Star Wars Fans” and as noted by Coach at Echo Base Network on YouTube, it appears to feature a single shot from the sequel trilogy of Kylo Ren removing his helmet. It appears this shot is from The Force Awakens. Interestingly, it does not include any shots of Daisy Ridley as Rey.
In contrast it features plenty of footage from Lucasfilm’s various Disney+ shows including Andor, the upcoming The Acolyte, The Mandalorian, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka, The Clone Wars, and The Bad Batch. It also features a clip from The Phantom Menace.
This May the 4th, we celebrate the best fans in the galaxy.#Maythe4thBeWithYou pic.twitter.com/SgKW03uFBy
— Star Wars (@starwars) May 3, 2024
Coach commented on the video and noted the absence of any Disney sequel trilogy clips, “You know what they don’t show? You know what’s eerily absent from this minute and a half long Star Wars celebration? Anything from the sequel trilogy. Nothing. There is no Daisy Ridley. There is no sequel trilogy at all.”
He added, “It is hilarious. And they’re actually coming out with a movie about Rey? I don’t know if that’s actually going to happen. They know that movie is not going to make money. They know how divisive it is. Even Daisy Ridley knows.”
After watching the hype trailer, Coach added, “They earned a thumbs up from EBN today because they didn’t have any sequel trilogy in that at all because it is horrible. You killed the franchise with the sequel trilogy. You’re still suffering because of it. Star Wars is dang near dead because of the decisions that you made with that terrible trilogy, letting J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson run amok, just destroy the thing.”
As he concluded his video, he opined, “Maybe they’re finally starting to realize the damage that they’ve caused. Maybe they finally realized that the fans don’t want to see this. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and her little Rey Skywalker movie needs to not happen. If it does happen it’s going to be terrible. It’s going to be terrible. It’s going to be terrible for the franchise. Fans don’t want it. Fans don’t need it. That’s not the Star Wars we want to see.”
LONDON, ENGLAND – APRIL 07: (L-R) Daisy Ridley, Kathleen Kennedy and Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy attend the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 attends the studio panel at Star Wars Celebration 2023 in London at ExCel on April 07, 2023 in London, England. (Photo by Jeff Spicer/Jeff Spicer/Getty Images for Disney)
While there appears to be one one single shot of the sequel trilogy in the hype video, as noted above it does include cosplayers as Rey and Kylo Ren. There’s also a child cosplaying as Poe Dameron as he takes his X-Wing on an attack run against Starkiller base.
The hype video does not include any clips from George Lucas’ original trilogy albeit it does feature a behind-the-scenes video of Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill from the original Star Wars film. It also features a puppeteer and Yoda from The Empire Strikes Back.
A scene from Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), Lucasfilm
What do you make of the hype video not featuring any sequel footage? Do you think it’s a sign the franchise has turned? Or do you think this is much ado about nothing given there is no original trilogy footage either?
**Editor’s Note: This article was updated after being informed that the a brief shot of Kylo Ren from The Force Awakens appears at the very beginning of the hype video.**
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Star Wars is dead. So much so that I have to desire to watch the origal 6 anymore. Have three kids and none of us have seen anything Star Wars except the first season of Mando for over four years now. Same as Marvel. No plans to change that status anytime soon.
Well you’re no different than Kennedy when you want SW dead just as much as she does and disowning the original six is just as dumb. Marvel you got no excuse on as that’s not ruined in that same way.
You keep on watching then. Keep funding that which is designed solely to antogonuze you. Stuff like this must leave a worse taste in my mouth than you. Enjoy.
Meh. They showed cosplayers from the sequel trilogy. I’m not sure that’s exactly “running away from” it.
There are two brief clips from the Original Trilogy in there–the Falcon in the asteroid belt from ESB, and an X-Wing over the Death Star from ANH. I also caught only one or two clips from the Prequels. This video is really centering the TV shows and the cosplayers/fans, though.
Those Disney+ series are just as divisive as the Sequel Trilogy. No one wants to see The Acolyte, etc. May the 4th in 2024 is another year Disney fails to capitalize on the Original Trilogy in Galaxy’s Edge. Please bring Han Solo, Luke, and Leia to the parks for the sake of the actors who are still alive. Carrie Fisher notwithstanding.