Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge comic books from Marvel reveal ‘secret story’ for revamped Disneyland timeline
“Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire,” a comic book series from Marvel, will explain the new backstory of Disneyland’s “Star Wars” land featuring the original trilogy characters.
The first of five comic books in the “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire” series will release on April 22, 2026. The story explains the new timeline of the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area at Disneyland in California, which will expand to include characters from the original “Star Wars” trilogy as of April 29.
Here’s the official synopsis for the new Galaxy’s Edge comic book series:
Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Chewbacca head to Batuu in search of important intel and stumble upon a dangerous relic – one that puts them on a collision course with the Empire!
The series is written by Ethan Sacks (author of 2019’s Galaxy’s Edge comics) and drawn by Jethro Morales and Roi Mercado. Find a comic book shop near you at comicshoplocator.com.
The main cover (there are three versions) features Luke Skywalker standing in front of the Millennium Falcon, seen parked in Black Spire Outpost on Batuu, just as it is at Disneyland. Phil Noto drew this cover.
A variant cover of the same first issue in the “Echoes of the Empire” series depicts Darth Vader standing angrily in front of the TIE Echelon ship, another Galaxy’s Edge landmark. Within the current timeline of Galaxy’s Edge, set within the sequel trilogy, this same ship belongs to the First Order. Leinil Francis Yu created this variant cover.
A third and final cover for “Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge – Echoes of the Empire” #1 shows Grogu aka Baby Yoda continuing his practices in the ways of the Force. Artist E.M. Gist created this cover.
“We’re returning to Batuu and we’re bringing the biggest stars in the ‘Star Wars’ galaxy with us,” Sacks said. “A major new era is dawning at Galaxy’s Edge, and consider ‘Echoes of the Empire’ a Holocron that reveals the secret story behind that experience. It’s going to be epic, and Jedi (drawing) Masters Roi Mercado and Jethro are making sure every page looks amazing.”
The Galaxy’s Edge timeline is expanding
Beginning April 29, 2026, Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland will expand its timeline narrative with the arrival of music and characters from the original “Star Wars” trilogy, as announced by Disney on Jan. 14. Crucially, the updates will only apply to the west-coast Galaxy’s Edge at Disneyland Park in Anaheim, Calif. — not the east-coast Galaxy’s Edge at Disney’s Hollywood Studios near Orlando, Fla.
Photo by Christian Thompson / Disney
When Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge first opened in 2019, the land was firmly fixated in the “Star Wars” timeline at the exact moment between 2017’s “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” and 2019’s “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” with virtually no leniency to disrupt that continuity. At that point in the story, Luke has just passed away, and the narrative mainly focuses on the adventures of Rey and Kylo Ren, both of whom appear in Galaxy’s Edge as walk-around characters and in Rise of the Resistance.
For any other point in the timeline, Disney has typically relegated such stories and characters to attractions elsewhere in the parks, such as Star Tours or the now-defunct Star Wars Launch Bay.
Over the years, Disney has gradually relaxed its timeline rules on both coasts’ Galaxy’s Edge to include characters from “The Mandalorian.” That series takes place about 20 years before the events of the Galaxy’s Edge attractions. As of April 29, the timeline expands even more, at least for California.
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