Watch First Footage Of Disney’s Realistic, Retractable Lightsaber
Get ready to really start fighting the Dark Side. It looks like there is now a real, retractable lightsaber you can get your hands on for your Jedi needs.
This article is more than 2 years old
It’s May the 4th and that means a special day in the hearts and minds of Star Wars fans everywhere. It’s a day to dream about what it would be like as a Jedi, fighting your way through the galaxy, ridding the universe of those who’d like to do it harm. And what better way to do so than imagine holding a real-life lightsaber in your hands? To feel the steady hum of power this Jedi weapon would grant you. Well now, we are getting closer to the possibility. It’s been hinted through Disney leaks and the (boring) patent process, but the day is almost here. We are getting a glimpse now of what a realistic, retractable lightsaber looks like. It’s coming folks. Prepare yourself for the roleplaying possibilities.
This new look at the lightsaber comes from Disney Parks and was released on their official Twitter account. There had been hints about the lightsaber being a “real” thing for a couple of months now with Disney park executives teasing the possibility recently. And this had also followed up some patent news that the company was hard at work at a way to create the iconic flash of light we see when the Jedi tool is activated. Check out what they’ve come up with:
Now, does this new lightsaber contain the power to slice through nearly every object in the known universe? No, of course not. We aren’t looking at a real weapon here. Those days might still be well off in the future. This version of the lightsaber just represents a massive step up from your pointing flashlights at the night sky days of yore. Those beams of light had *infinite* reach in that they were just your run-of-the-mill rays from Mag-lites. This new version has a retractable thick beam of light that mirrors the “real” lightsaber in that it replicates the weapon’s appearance and feel. Franky, it looks pretty damn awesome, a worthy addition to any Star Wars roleplaying scenario moving forward.
This new look at the lightsaber comes from Disney theme parks as part of their Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge area. It is a fully interactive section of the theme park that has visitors taking part in Jedi simulations of sorts, putting them into the center of the action. The park chairman Josh D’Amaro had demoed this lightsaber about a month ago for visitors, but at the time no recording devices or cameras were allowed in the room. So we were only left to speculate on what they came up with.
Well, it looks like they came up with an actual damn lightsaber that will function closer to what we’ve seen on-screen than anything else that’s come before it. Ditch your flashlights and cheap, glow-in-the-dark retractable plastic toys. Those are for the pretenders now. You can head to Disney and get your hands on the real thing. What’s next? A trip into space in the Millennium Falcon? Someone with the actual power of the Force? It’s May 4th and we can dream on each and every possibility in the Star Wars universe.
