Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is quickly turning into one of the most highly-anticipated Disney parks expansions in history. Superfans have been white-knuckling their keyboards and smartphones (for joy or otherwise) over all the details recently released by Disney, from cast member costumes to details on food and merchandise. The wait is almost over for “Star Wars Land” to finally arrive in Disneyland in early summer and Disney’s Hollywood Studios in the fall.
One of the most controversial elements surrounding Galaxy’s Edge has been its setting—the mysterious Black Spire Outpost on the world of Batuu. Many Star Wars fans were left scratching their heads and voiced their displeasure that the land wasn’t set in a more familiar world like Tatooine, Endor, or even on the Death Star. Where the heck is Batuu?
Rather than setting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in a more familiar planet, Disney took a gamble and chose to create an entirely new world in the Star Wars canon, one that already has started appearing in Star Wars novels like Thrawn: Alliances and will continue to be explored in upcoming books like Black Spire (to be released in September) and The Crash of Fate.
Image: Disney
StarWars.com describes Batuu like this:
“A remote outpost on the galaxy’s edge, Batuu was once a busy crossroads in the days prior to lightspeed. With the rise of hyperspace travel, however, the world – notable for the lush trees and mountain spikes that decorate its surface – was left behind, its prominence lost to planets on more popular trade routes. Today, Batuu is home to those who prefer to stay out of the mainstream, and a thriving port for smugglers, rogue traders, and adventurers traveling between the frontier and uncharted space. Significantly, it has also become a safe haven for those looking to avoid the attention of the First Order.”
Did Disney make the right call setting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in an entirely new world? We think they did. Indeed, in many ways, it was a genius move. Here are five reasons why…
1. The story continues
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Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge won’t just be about retelling the same Star Wars stories we are all familiar with. It will be about telling new ones that run hand-in-hand with every new addition Disney brings into the Star Wars canon.
While familiar Star Wars locations like Endor, Tatooine, Coruscant, and even Mustafar come with tons of nostalgia, picking one of these would have locked Disney into a corner with what stories they could tell in Galaxy’s Edge. What world should they have given priority to? Those from the classic trilogy, the prequels, or the new films? Creating a new setting for Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge allows Disney to tell original stories that can tie into every evolution of the Star Wars canon, and it’s hard to think of a setting that will prove more friendly to that than Batuu.
As a pre-hyperspace travel hub, Batuu is the type of place where it makes sense for tons of people (and aliens) from different walks to converge. Its seedy underbelly will provide the perfect atmosphere for Disney to explore tales of smugglers, bounty hunters, and scavengers, like those we’ll see in Millennium Falcon: Smugglers Run, as well as in some of the merchandise shops (like one where a guy has spent years collecting lightsaber parts hoping someone will come along who can assemble them). Batuu’s notoriety as a safe hub for Resistance fighters gives opportunity to tell stories about the war (like the Rise of the Resistance attraction). If Disney continues to make elements of the Old Republic canon, those will can still show up in merchandise references or perhaps as historic backstory.
Also, Disney has already made it clear that travel off Batuu will be an element on some attractions in Galaxy’s Edge, meaning travel to any other Star Wars location remains an open possibility from this unique hub. This is a place where a wide array of stories can be told for years to come.
2. Keeping the options open (and mitigating fan backlash)
Image: Disney
Setting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in a new world also solves another major problem—it will keep Disney’s options open as the Star Wars universe unfolds.
Star Wars fans are an extremely opinionated and diverse group. Older fans are fiercely loyal to the original trilogy and proved the fiercest critics of George Lucas’ prequel trilogy. Indeed, even references to the prequels in Star Tours made some fans cringe when they were announced. What many adults don’t realize, however, is that younger fans don’t necessarily feel the same burning hatred for Jar Jar Binks and midi-chlorians that we do. Today’s college-age students grew up on the prequels, to the point many saw them before they ever saw the classic trilogy. Today’s teenagers spent their childhood playing pretend as Clone Wars cartoon characters rather than as Leia or Luke Skywalker. Different groups of fans like different things, and it would have been a mistake for Disney to back themselves into a corner committing to just one fanbase.
Consider the insanely divided fan reactions to The Last Jedi. Some loved it, applauding it as one of the finest achievements in the franchise. Others thought it was an unmitigated disaster. Indeed, they hated it with a burning passion that set the internet ablaze (and apparently drew the mimicry of a surprising number of Russian troll-bots). In similar form, many fans loved Solo: A Star Wars Story while others found it predictable and blasé, to the point it technically bombed in Disney’s eyes.
Setting Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge in a new, flexible location gives Disney the freedom to course-correct if a film or other project doesn’t go over well. It’s impossible to mitigate all fan backlash, but this was a smart move that will give Disney lots of wiggle room to expand smartly in the future.
3. Immersion meets role-playing
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The experience at Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge isn’t going to just be about fan-service—it’s about immersion. Universal Studios knocked this concept out of the park with The Wizarding World of Harry Potter. The Hogwarts section of Islands of Adventure doesn’t just feel like an homage to Harry Potter. It feels like the real place, right down to the butterbeer and the claustrophobic insides of the castle. Diagon Alley in Universal Studios Orlando is so well hidden (to match lore) that some guests can’t even find it their first time without a map. Disney’s Animal Kingdom pulled off a similar feat with the World of Pandora, especially on the Avatar: Flight of Passage attraction. Whether you like the film Avatar or not, the experience isn’t about appealing fandom—it is about immersion in another world that feels utterly real and exhilarating.
Galaxy’s Edge will take this concept to the next level by giving fans of all ages the opportunity to enjoy the same thing every kid does when they step into Walt Disney World—freedom to play pretend. It’s not just about remembering a favorite film. It is an opportunity to participate in the story as a character in your imagination.
Every element of Batuu is going to feed this experience. Lucky press members who got to take an early look have described the Black Spire Outpost as mind-bogglingly realistic. Both attractions will be set up to feel like quests rather than rides—a smuggling run and a mission for the Resistance that flow in real time. There will be actual stakes since the choices you make on the attractions will affect your “reputation” (attached to your MagicBand) in the park, changing the way characters interact with you. We’ve also already talked about how the resort attached to Galaxy’s Edge sounds like a role-playing experience. This theme will carry throughout, and the setting is going to make the whole thing feel even more realistic, right down to integrated PlayDisney games you can enjoy while you explore. Unlike recreating the films, the tales told on Batuu will take guests into entirely untraveled territory.
4. Limitless opportunity for tie-ins
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Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is already going to prove a gold mine for Disney in regards to tie-in merchandise, upcharge experiences, and dining concepts. Batuu’s eclectic setting allows for tie-ins to virtually any part of the Star Wars Universe thanks to its unique backstory as an Outer Rim travel hub.
One shop is going to sell curiosities and artifacts collected from every period of Star Wars history, from antique lightsabers to glowing Holocrons. If those rumors of an Old Republic trilogy or TV series ever come to pass, you can bet your Blue Milk that tie-in merchandise will show up here. Another shop will sell dolls based on famous Star Wars creatures while a similar one sells droids—you will certainly see fresh additions in these shops from every new Star Wars film and cartoon.
You can also be certain that new lightsaber parts from any newly introduced Jedi or Sith will show up in Savi’s lightsaber salvage shop, delighting kids who visit. The clothing/costume shops, as well as the dining locations will also easily be able to evolve with every new addition to the Star Wars mythos.
5. It’s kind of Star Tours on steroids
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Star Tours is an immersive enough attraction in its own right. It managed to take the tourism experience and place it in the Star Wars universe, infusing it with excitement and adventure to keep audiences engaged for decades.
If you really think about it, The Black Spire Outpost on Batuu is like a much more fleshed-out evolution of Star Tours. It maintains the “tourism” feel since it makes sense in-world for galactic travelers to pass through. Like Star Tours, connections will be maintained to familiar planets all over the galaxy, affecting the culture of Batuu. Guests will get hints of every corner of the Star Wars universe through the merchandise and dining, such as being able to drink Tatooinian Blue Milk in Oga’s Cantina or being able to purchase Jakku scavenger wear from apparel shops. Like Star Tours, every guest undergoes a familiar hero’s journey—you’re just a normal person passing through when you find yourself caught up in the middle of a war, the fate of the battle between good and evil suddenly dependent on you and your fellow travelers.
It’s Star Tours taken to the next level—not just an experience where we’re tagging along in the midst of the story but where we are now part of it.
Whatever your opinions on Batuu, Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge is going to be an expansion unlike any other we have seen at Walt Disney World. What part of it are you looking the most forward to?
