The first promo videos and photos did not go well for The Walt Disney Company. Replacing the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy with Luke, Leia, Han and Darth Vader should have been a decade-overdue grand slam. But the costumes didn’t look good. The casting was questionable. And fans were left fed up with yet another big whiff from a company that has poorly played with George Lucas’ original movies.
Promo Photo Courtesy of Disney Parks; Princess Leia and Han Solo at Disneyland Galaxy’s Edge
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Then Disneyland made the change. And as opposed to the promos, this was the sort of Star Wars celebration Disney Parks fans had been waiting a very long time to see!
HAN SOLO in Galaxy’s Edge is PEAK NOW 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/yCjvJIjA8h
— 🔥 FIVE FIRES 🔥 (@thecalibae) April 29, 2026
Han Solo’s wig was dramatically improved. His outfit was changed to the Empire Strikes Back ensemble.
But it went beyond that.
There was nothing the actress playing Leia could do in the promo videos. I don’t look like Princess Leia, you probably don’t look like Princess Leia, and she didn’t look like Princess Leia either. Bizarre makeup tried to hide the fact, but it was just a really bad casting decision. But guess what? When Leia appeared on the first night of Disneyland’s change, the actress was different. The makeup was corrected. And having the actors appear at night where theme park lighting can help remove the uncanny valley of trying to replicate Carrie Fischer and Harrison Ford was a huge benefit.
Leia Organa & Han Solo debuting at Star Wars Nite Disneyland in galaxy’s edge pic.twitter.com/lfEO7MkPoS
— 🔥 FIVE FIRES 🔥 (@thecalibae) April 29, 2026
And the result of listening to feedback from fans, YouTubers, influencers, the New Media and online discourse? Fans are absolutely raving about the original characters appearance. It is what so many have been waiting so long to enjoy at a Star Wars land. The cries for bringing back the sequel stuff is likely to never materialize. So long as John Williams is playing, Luke is a winner instead of hopeless bum, and Darth Vader is menacing over the entire land, Disney just might be making lots of money again off of Star Wars.
For the accountants trying to figure out what went wrong, last night was “the way”.
But one more time, let’s enjoy the absolute dumpster blaze that Disney avoided by listening to fans and making a last-minute fix to the flaws. After all, you could have had the American Idol costumes and actors appearing. Yikes!
American Idol shared a look into the new Luke Han & Leia in Galaxy’s Edge Disneyland pic.twitter.com/b5o3HOi4iu
— 🔥 FIVE FIRES 🔥 (@thecalibae) April 21, 2026
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