I was reading an article / personal review of Galaxy's Edge and a quote from the managing story editor for SW:GE stuck out to me. Here is an excerpt:
I recognize that as far as we know, the events taking place in SW:GE fall after Episode 8, and I've also read the same Story Editor explain that "what you see on opening day might not necessarily be what you'll see in the near future"*. But with the grand opening of the land being less than 6 months before the release of the new movie (and even closer of a window for WDW), do you think they'd really transition some of the characters and ride experiences (i.e. Kylo Ren animatronic big scene in ROTR) that quickly after the release of the new movie, while they're still delving into everything else with the new park extension opening (maintenance routines, audience and pricing metrics, crowd control, etc.)? At this point ROTR will be back in ~Oct/Nov from what it seems - why would they have developed that full experience with Kylo Ren & current canon when it would end up needing to be changed just a month or two later?
In my opinion, there are two options.
1. They are completely going against their own basis for why they didn't include those past characters and stories, and are going to keep the characters they developed for the park in the park, regardless of the outcome of the final story in this trilogy. This would defeat the purpose of 'immersion' as the Story Editor stated, as that "story has already happened" for everyone experiencing the park after December of this year - and if that's the case, it makes no sense why they didn't include alive version of Yoda / Luke / Han etc.
Or
2. This is a huge spoiler of what will remain after The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren, Rey, Chewy and every other character shown (as well as the Millennium Falcon) will still be shown alive/intact at the end of the movie , and as the final movie in the trilogy, they could then choose to either keep those characters indefinitely or change them out at their leisure.
What are your thoughts?
Galaxy’s Edge takes one major creative risk: The story of Black Spire Outpost is a new one set after the events of “The Last Jedi.” So there will be no opportunity for visitors to meet Luke Skywalker. Ditto for Han Solo, Darth Vader and Yoda. All dead they are.
I was taken aback with that being the rationale given to not include the original characters that have since perished. We know that Rey / Kylo Ren / Chewbacca etc. are included in the park. If you follow the same logic given by the Story Editor, that their goal is to immerse you in a reality of the 'present' and not include any 'past stories' (aside from battle gear remnants, etc.), then could everything you experience in SW:GE be a huge spoiler of who lives or dies in The Rise of Skywalker?“We wanted to create the deepest level of immersion possible, and those stories have already all happened — people know, even if it’s on a subconscious level, that they don’t belong in them,” Margaret Kerrison, managing story editor for Galaxy’s Edge, told me in a phone interview before we visited. She added that Disney wanted to create an entirely new place to level the playing field. “Everyone is experiencing this for the first time, no matter the level of fandom,” she said.
I recognize that as far as we know, the events taking place in SW:GE fall after Episode 8, and I've also read the same Story Editor explain that "what you see on opening day might not necessarily be what you'll see in the near future"*. But with the grand opening of the land being less than 6 months before the release of the new movie (and even closer of a window for WDW), do you think they'd really transition some of the characters and ride experiences (i.e. Kylo Ren animatronic big scene in ROTR) that quickly after the release of the new movie, while they're still delving into everything else with the new park extension opening (maintenance routines, audience and pricing metrics, crowd control, etc.)? At this point ROTR will be back in ~Oct/Nov from what it seems - why would they have developed that full experience with Kylo Ren & current canon when it would end up needing to be changed just a month or two later?
In my opinion, there are two options.
1. They are completely going against their own basis for why they didn't include those past characters and stories, and are going to keep the characters they developed for the park in the park, regardless of the outcome of the final story in this trilogy. This would defeat the purpose of 'immersion' as the Story Editor stated, as that "story has already happened" for everyone experiencing the park after December of this year - and if that's the case, it makes no sense why they didn't include alive version of Yoda / Luke / Han etc.
Or
2. This is a huge spoiler of what will remain after The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren, Rey, Chewy and every other character shown (as well as the Millennium Falcon) will still be shown alive/intact at the end of the movie , and as the final movie in the trilogy, they could then choose to either keep those characters indefinitely or change them out at their leisure.
What are your thoughts?