There’s no more iconic or recognizable weapon from Star Wars than a lightsaber, and we might be closer than ever to seeing this fiction in reality.
Scott Barbour/Getty Images Lynne Kosky (L), Victoria’s Minister for Public Transport and Minister for the Arts has a lightsaber battle with an actor dressed as Darth Vader during a preview to the ‘Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination’ exhibition at Scienceworks on June 2, 2009 in Melbourne, Australia. The exhibition is the first to showcase over 80 costumes and props from all six Star Wars movies. There’s no more iconic or recognizable weapon from Star Wars than a lightsaber, and we might be closer than ever to seeing this fiction in reality. While it’s unlikely to have the same deadly power of a lightsaber within the Star Wars universe, the latest reveal at a Disney Parks press conference could be the most realistic lightsaber ever released. Lightsaber toys have been around for years, but they’ve never fully delivered on the feel and experience of how a lightsaber looks in Star Wars. According to Inverse, the beginnings of the toy lightsaber actually came through a bootleg knock-off called The Force Beam, but it didn’t take long for Star Wars to make their own versions. For decades, lightsaber toys tended to follow the formula of having a plastic replica handle or hilt that paired with a plastic colored tube, sometimes retractable in sections. Whether extended manually or always extended, once an internal light was on it would illuminate the toy replica and sometimes emit sound effects. MARK RALSTON/AFP via Getty Images An original Star Wars: A New Hope movie lightsaber used by Luke Skywalker. After years of innovation, it now appears the biggest leap forward has finally arrived. On Thursday, April 8th, Disney hosted a virtual ‘Special Look Inside Disney Parks’ press conference. According to Spectrum News 13 in Orlando, the press conference included details about the eventual reopening of Disneyland Resort in California, what’s coming next for Disney World, and the reveal of the opening date for Avengers Campus, a Marvel-themed attraction at Disney California Adventure. However, it was the final moments of the press conference that had everyone buzzing. According to a tweet by Carlye Wisel, a theme park journalist who got to view the press conference, the reveal came as Disney Parks, Experiences and Products Chairman Josh D’Amaro closed out the event.
