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Time travel

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Time travel was a form of transportation through time into the past [2] or the future. [1] Although some beings sometimes wished they could travel back in time to change mistakes they made in their lives, [2] [3] such a thing was still widely thought to be impossible, even during the height of the New Republic . [4] A hypothetical device for allowing so was known as a time machine . [3]

The World Between Worlds

Access to the World Between Worlds made time travel possible through many of the doors and pathways to the past, present and future. However, the mystical Force realm's existence was mostly unknown, and only a few Force-users could enter it. In 0 BBY , Jedi Padawan Ezra Bridger entered the World Between Worlds through a portal in the Lothal Jedi Temple and rescued the former Jedi Ahsoka Tano from being killed by Darth Vader during the mission to Malachor , which had occurred three years before, by pulling her through a portal. During their time there, Bridger briefly considered rescuing his master Kanan Jarrus , who had died during the rescue of Hera Syndulla , by pulling him through a portal. However, Tano talked him out of it by pointing out that rescuing Jarrus would mean that all of the other Spectres present, including Bridger, would have died in the explosion of the Imperial gas refinery, causing a paradox. After being attacked by Darth Sidious , Bridger and Tano returned through the same portals they had entered, emerging on Lothal and Malachor respectively, three years apart. [5]

Luke Skywalker , when asked by C-3PO how the latter could help the former, sarcastically suggested that the droid could help by altering time far enough into the future to bypass the harvest season so he could join the Imperial Academy . [1]

Behind the scenes [ ]

Time travel was first mentioned, sarcastically, in Star Wars : Episode IV A New Hope . [1] It first appeared in Star Wars canon in the second issue of the 2016 comic book series Star Wars: Doctor Aphra . [6]

The non-canon LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special has time travel as a major part of its plot, as Rey Skywalker is guided to a Jedi Temple on the planet Kordoku . She finds a portal there that sends her on a journey through time to meet many important figures from galactic history. [7]

Appearances [ ]

• The High Republic: Cataclysm (Indirect mention only)
• The High Republic: Cataclysm audiobook (Indirect mention only)
• Master & Apprentice (Mentioned only)
• Master & Apprentice audiobook (Mentioned only)
• Lost Stars (Mentioned only)
• Lost Stars audiobook (Mentioned only)
• Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy (Indirect mention only)

• Star Wars : Episode IV A New Hope (First mentioned) (Mentioned sarcastically)
• Star Wars: A New Hope junior novelization (Mentioned only)
• Doctor Aphra (2016) 2 (First appearance) (In flashback(s))
• " The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku " —  Tales from a Galaxy Far, Far Away: Aliens: Volume I (Mentioned sarcastically)
• Phasma (Mentioned only)
• Phasma audiobook (Mentioned only)

Non-canon appearances [ ]

• The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special

Notes and references [ ]

• ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 Star Wars : Episode IV A New Hope
• ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lost Stars
• ↑ 3.0 3.1 Servants of the Empire: The Secret Academy
• ↑ " The Crimson Corsair and the Lost Treasure of Count Dooku "
• ↑ Doctor Aphra (2016) 2
• ↑ The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special

External links [ ]

• 1 The Bad Batch Season 3
• 2 Edmon Rampart
• 3 Into the Breach

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Time travel in Star Wars? It happened, and Ahsoka did it

Time travel? In Star Wars? It's more likely than you think.

Years after the fall of the Empire, Anakin Skywalker’s former padawan Ahsoka made a surprise return in Season 2 of The Mandalorian on Disney+. Now, Ahsoka is on the verge of embarking on her own journey, in a spinoff series debuting August 22. But for those unfamiliar with her past, her presence in the story here raises questions. First and foremost: how is she still alive? After over 20 years of Imperial rule and Jedi purges, wouldn’t someone have brought her out into the open? If she was around this whole time, then where was she for the entirety of the Original Trilogy? Couldn’t Luke have used her help? As a matter of fact, why didn’t she do anything about Vader?

The answer to all of that involves a concept introduced in Season 4 of the animated series Star Wars: Rebels, 'The World Between Worlds.' But first, a quick catch-up on what brought her there.

How Ahsoka survived

Part of the reason Ahsoka survived the Jedi Purge is that when it happened, she was no longer a Jedi. In the final seasons of Star Wars: The Clone Wars, shortly before the end of the Clone Wars, Ahsoka stood accused by the Jedi Council for a crime she did not commit. Even after her name was cleared, Ahsoka was disillusioned by the Council’s lack of faith in her, and she chose to leave the temple and walk her own path.

On the day that Anakin fell to the Dark Side and Order 66 was enacted, Ahsoka had returned to the Republic to aid with one final mission. When the clones were activated, it was Anakin’s training, as well as an early warning from a clone named Fives who had inadvertently discovered Order 66 early, which allowed Ahsoka to survive the assault by the clones assigned to her, and even rescue her closest friend within the clone troops, Captain Rex, by disabling his neural implant. Fives and Ahsoka faked their deaths to escape Order 66, and went their separate ways for a time.

As we learn in both the novel Ahsoka, and the Tales of the Jedi animated series, after attempting to build a new life for herself on a farming world, one of the Empire’s Inquisitors arrived to upend her life. Ahsoka fought back, exposing herself and slaying the Inquisitor, and realized she could not longer live on the run. She got in touch with Bail Organa, and worked as a secret agent to help bring together the nascent rebel cells across the Galaxy which would become the Alliance to Restore the Republic.

The Vader encounter

In Season 2 of Star Wars: Rebels, set a few years before A New Hope, Ahsoka accompanies the young Force sensitive Ezra Bridger to a Sith temple on the planet Malachor – where she finally encounters her former master for the first time as Darth Vader. Ezra is forced to leave Ahsoka behind to her fate, one we wouldn’t get to learn for two more seasons.

It’s in Season 4 that we learn Ahsoka never really walked away from that duel. But nor did she die. Through a buried Jedi temple on Ezra’s homeworld of Lothal, Ezra was able to open a portal in time and space to the duel where Ahsoka had been lost, and pull her into the nowhere realm in which he found himself. Ahsoka Tano had entered The World Between Worlds.

The World Between Worlds

The World Between Worlds only appears in three episodes near the very end of Star Wars: Rebels. We only know its name because one episode, “A World Between Worlds,” apparently tells us. Throughout Star Wars: Rebels, the Empire takes a special interest in the Outer Rim world of Lothal, which the rambunctious Rebel recruit and Jedi in training Ezra Bridger calls home. Ostensibly, it’s been scoped as the site for a new TIE Fighter factory. But in Season 4, we learn the true reason for the Emperor’s interest: Lothal is the site of an ancient Jedi temple which potentially holds the key to accessing any point in time or space.

Solving the riddle of a gateway illustrated by a tableau of the Ghosts of Mortis- three still more enigmatic figures from Star Wars: The Clone Wars representing different aspects of The Force- Ezra was able to penetrate the temple’s sanctum, which appeared to him as a void in space decorated with intersecting bridges of light. Voices from all the Star Wars films, set in past, near future, and even the distant future of the sequels, echoed through the void for Ezra to parse. Tempted by its power to alter any point in time, Ezra is drawn to the moment in the Sith temple where Ahsoka apparently meets her fate, and pulls her through. But before they can make any more changes, Ezra realizes that the gateway he opens goes two ways – the more he uses it, the more chance the Emperor has to take control of it, granting him mastery over time as well as the Galaxy. Ezra and Ahsoka resolve to destroy the temple rather than allow it to fall into the Emperor’s hands.

And that’s how Ahsoka made it through most of the Imperial era, right up until A New Hope. What she was up to during the trilogy itself, well… that’s a story that the Ahsoka series might answer.

Admittedly, the World Between Worlds is a pretty heavy concept to drop in season 4 of an animated TV show which originally ran on Disney XD, a network which no longer produces original programming. Showrunner Dave Filoni has said that, like many of the concepts in Clone Wars and Rebels, the World Between Worlds was developed in conversations with his mentor George Lucas, and was partially inspired by “the wood between the worlds” in CS Lewis’ The Chronicles of Narnia.

But even with Lucas’ apparent sign-off, does time travel really belong in Star Wars?

Time travel in Star Wars

To many, introducing the concept of time travel to Star Wars feels like anathema. It’s an element which carries enormous ramifications for the entire timeline, and one which may feel a little more “hard sci-fi” than fans are used to. More Trek than Wars, if you will. But conceptually, time travel has existed within the world of Star Wars since the very first film. You may recall this exchange between C-3PO and Luke Skywalker on Tatooine:

“Is there anything I might do to help?” C-3PO asks.

“No,” Luke says. “Not unless you can alter time, speed up the harvest, or teleport me off this rock.”

“I don’t think so, sir,” C-3PO says. “I’m only a droid, and not very knowledgeable about such things. Not on this planet, anyway.”

It’s that qualifier at the end which should give us pause. Such things may not be possible on a backwater world like Tatooine, but the Galaxy is a vast and mysterious place. And in fact, many Star Wars stories from before we even caught a glimpse of the World Between Worlds have evoked time travel – from before the original trilogy was even finished, to mere months before Disney’s acquisition of Lucasfilm, refreshing the canon.

The first time travel story in Star Wars, if you can believe it, was written by Watchmen and League of Extraordinary Gentleman author Alan Moore, for a 1982 comic feature in Empire Strikes Back Magazine. The story, “Tilotny Throws a Shape,” introduces a race of omnipotent beings unbound by the traditional constraints of time or space. In their galavanting across the mortal plane, they send a cadre of Stormtroopers pursuing Princess Leia 8,000 years into the past. This means that time travel has technically been a part of Star Wars longer than Ewoks.

Speaking of Ewoks, however, perhaps the most significant time travel story up until the Ahsoka affair was a 1986 crossover between Droids and Ewoks, two comic book tie-ins to animated series of the same name. Bringing these two titles together was an obvious bit of synergy. But the problem was that Droids was set 15 years before A New Hope, whereas Ewoks was set right before Return of the Jedi. Author David Manak gets around this with a simple plot device that carries enormous ramifications: a botched entry into hyperspace sends the droids hurtling temporarily forward through time, where they encounter the Ewoks on Endor. The droids eventually return to their own time, mystifying the Ewoks… and, perhaps, explaining why the next time they encounter C-3PO in Return of the Jedi, he’s revered as a god.

In a 2002 Star Wars Tales comic, “The Secret of Tet-Ami,” Mace Windu encounters an artifact which can send him back in time by millennia. In the 2008 novel Legacy of the Force, Jacen Solo, son of Han and Leia, learns “flow-walking,” an arcane Force technique which allows one to project themselves backwards or forwards through time. Even in the 2012 novel Darth Plagueis, Palpatine’s master speculates that there may be a Sith technique to travel through time, but he has not yet cracked its secrets.

Before the current state of Star Wars continuity, there wasn’t just one way to travel through time, but half a dozen. The World Between Worlds may seem like a radical departure for Star Wars, but it’s ultimately a streamlining of a concept which has always been a part of the Galaxy… and one which hews closer to the themes of its mystic elements that Lucas and his collaborators have been sharing with us from the very beginning.

Through The Force, everything is connected. Even time.

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How Time Travel Works in Star Wars

We examine how Rebels' "A World Between Worlds" changes what's possible in Star Wars.

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This Star Wars article contains spoilers.

Once hyperspace is conquered, the next step is to explore the timeline.  Star Wars Rebels recently opened up a new dimension with the starry sky of the World Between Worlds, a mystical place where all times happen at once. By unlocking the Jedi Temple on Lothal and finely attuning himself to the Force, Ezra Bridger enters this strange space and finds himself able to visit doors into the past and future. 

The temple has one last lesson for Ezra, and with it comes a slew of new possibilities for the saga. The voices of Rey, Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi, Qui-Gon Jinn, and many others from different eras of Star Wars can be heard as Ezra explores the World Between Worlds.

So what are the rules here, and what happens if someone tries to break them? Each doorway indicates a potential space for Ezra to walk into, a potential chance for him to change the course already set in stone … perhaps. 

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There’s actually a precedent for time travel in the galaxy far, far away. Here’s how the sci-fi concept has worked in Star Wars in the past:

How Time Travel Works in Rebels

The reveal of the World Between Worlds, the place where a Force user can access doorways to other times, is visually linked to the Mortis gods from The Clone Wars . The three aspects of the Force represented by the Mortis gods (light, dark, and balance) are all symbolically connected to the ability to travel in time. Time works a bit differently in the World Between Worlds as it did in the realm of the Force wielders, which I’ll talk about in a minute, but their presence in the painting at the entrance to the chamber indicates that the Jedi Temple on Lothal taps into aspects of the Force more strange, more powerful, and more embodied than the telepathy and telekinesis Ezra has already learned.

His Force abilities and connection to Lothal enable him to enter the World Between Worlds and find a portal to the time in which Ahsoka dueled Darth Vader in the Sith Temple on Malachor in season two. There, voices from the past and future drift through the black-and-white dreamscape. One could imagine that it was the will of the Force which led him to the particular portal behind which Ahsoka is fighting, since the Force has been connecting Ahsoka and Ezra for a long time. Or, it was the will of the plot: Ahsoka later helps rescue Ezra from Emperor Palpatine, who also has access to the in-between plane. 

Although Palpatine can threaten their lives within the World Between Worlds, the Force seems very particular about making sure that no one can change anything while inside. Ahsoka returns to the time from which she was pulled, dropping right back into the scene where she disappeared . Or is this non-interference policy a moral choice rather than a physical law? 

Ezra almost tests it out himself. He wants to rescue Kanan, and the Force allows him to see a doorway to the time and place where he could do so. Ultimately, the World Between Worlds is a place of emotional catharsis for Ezra. He’s forced to not only relive the traumatic death of his father figure, but also to realize that he has the control and the authority to stop it — and then come to terms with the fact that Kanan’s death was meant to be all along. If Ezra had rescued Kanan, the rest of their found family would have died, possibly trapping Ezra in a time paradox where he himself is both alive and dead.

Ahsoka doesn’t use this scientific argument with Ezra, though. Instead, she focuses on his emotional needs. He should not trade several lives to save one, and he should learn that a Jedi can accept loss without being consumed by grief. 

Palpatine seems to have known about the World Between Worlds for a while, since he accessed it himself and sent an Imperial researcher to oversee the ruins. Along with the planet’s ore, it’s one of the reasons the planet Lothal is so important.  Darth Sidious’ knowledge of time travel might be the best proof that the Force does not allow the time stream to be manipulated. If it could be, the Emperor would have changed certain things in the timeline by now. 

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How Time Travel Works in The Clone Wars

Although time travel was not explicitly used or even introduced into the realm of possibility as much as it recently was in Rebels , the Mortis gods – Father, Daughter, and Son – are shown to exist outside of time in The Clone Wars as well. Their planet exists in an invisible pocket of time and space, technically undetectable even when viewed from a starship nearby. When Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Ahsoka return from the Mortis realm to the natural world, no time seems to have passed at all since they arrived at the anomalous region of space. 

Seasons and days are also distorted on the planet where the Force wielders live. Time passes quickly. With night comes a cold and barren winter and the morning brings an impossibly vibrant spring. The Jedi cannot control this passage of time at all. The Mortis gods do not weaponize it either, inasmuch as their knowledge of the past and future is not a threat.

The veil between different times also seems thin here, allowing Obi-Wan and Ahsoka to have visions of the past and future respectively. However, Anakin’s similar vision turns out to be a trick of the Son, the aspect of the dark side, so it’s hard to say what was the direct influence of the Mortis gods and what was the veil in the time-stream fluttering in that space. 

How Time Travel Worked in the Old Expanded Universe (Legends)

Time travel also appeared in the old Expanded Universe (now known as Legends canon) in several different forms, often in the realm of rumor or the unexplained. 

In the Ewoks comic book series, a hyperdrive malfunction leads to R2-D2 and C-3PO traveling into the future. In the ancient Sith Order, an artifact called the Darkstaff could create a Force storm that transported its bearer to the future. A few other examples could be found in comic books, including “Tilotny Throws a Shape” by Alan Moore. This story features creatures with godlike powers, reminiscent of the Mortis trio only in that they were similarly powerful. 

In the Legacy era, “Flow-walking,” a skill learned by a select few Jedi decades after the events of the Original Trilogy, enabled a person to appear as a disembodied perspective in the past, like a view through a camera into another world. Jacen Solo uses this to visit the Jedi Temple during Order 66. He wants to find out what drove Anakin Skywalker to the dark side in order to justify his own dark side actions and inner turmoil. He is tempted to step into the past and make a change, but such manipulation is impossible. Flow-walking allows for only small changes, which are inevitably caught up in the continuous flow of time and do not change history. 

While the effect is similar, the nature of flow-walking is different from the time portals in Rebels . It is described as a Jedi’s ability to access a stream of Force energy, instead of a physical location where the past and future can be opened like doors along a hallway. In both instances, events can’t actually be manipulated or changed.

Flow-walking is used as a way to connect Jacen’s story to the story of the Prequel Trilogy, as well as to show the similarities between Anakin’s fall and Jacen’s own. Does the dark side run in the Skywalker family blood, the scene indirectly asks? Since Jacen’s sister, mother, and uncle remain in the light side of the Force, it doesn’t seem to. Instead, the flow-walking shows the way cycles of peace and war turn and turn — in the Star Wars universe as well as our own.

Megan Crouse

Megan Crouse writes for Star Wars Insider and Star Wars.com and is a co-host on Den of Geek's Star Wars podcast, Blaster Canon. Twitter: @blogfullofwords

Ahsoka Suggests Time Travel Is Coming To Star Wars – But This Isn't New

This article contains spoilers for "Ahsoka."

Sooner or later, every franchise tackles time travel. "SpongeBob SquarePants," "Game of Thrones," the Marvel Cinematic Universe, "Family Guy," the Arrowverse, and even "Riverdale" have all sent characters spiraling through history at some point over the duration of their runs. On "Star Trek," of course, a journey to the past is just another day ending in "y" for the various members of Starfleet.

It begs the question: why hasn't that other long-running property with "Star" in the title taken a stab at time travel yet? Well, dear reader, I'm here to tell you that it has ... except, like so many of the most interesting elements of "Star Wars" these days, it's been limited to animation so far. In an intriguing development, however, it seems that may be changing as Lucasfilm Animation boss and "The Mandalorian" executive producer Dave Filoni continues his mission to bring the live-action and animated sides of a galaxy far, far away together.

The latest "Mandalorian" spinoff, "Ahsoka," sees Filoni acting as head writer, and he's already spent the first two episodes bringing some of the best characters and story threads from his "Star Wars" animated shows into the realm of live-action. Episode 2, "Toil and Trouble," even teases the prospect of time travel in the scene where Morgan Elsbeth (Diana Lee Inosanto) — the former Magistrate of Calodan whom we previously encountered on "The Mandalorian" — uses a star map to pinpoint the location of her absentee boss, the Imperial Grand Admiral Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). "Thrawn calls to me across time and space," she states at one point.

Sure, that sounds like the sort of vaguely mystical claptrap that "Star Wars" villains love to proclaim, but it could also be referencing something more concrete: The World Between Worlds.

The World Between Worlds

Among the many fascinating ideas Filoni introduced to the mythology of the Force on the animated series "Star Wars Rebels" is The World Between Worlds. Also known as the Vergence Scatter, this mysterious realm exists outside of time and space and manifests itself as a series of pathways leading to infinite doorways, each of which will take you to a specific place and moment in time. Think of the fifth-dimensional tesseract from "Interstellar" (or, to use the, ahem, scientific terminology, the space library ) and you'll have a rough idea of how The World Between Worlds functions.

Discovered by the Jedi in ancient times, The World Between Worlds is incredibly difficult to reach. There are mystical creatures that can venture there thanks to their intrinsic connection to the Force, but beyond that, there are very few ways for the mere mortals of the "Star Wars" universe to access it. That's undoubtedly for the best, though, given its potential to wreak havoc on history. Case in point: When "Rebels" hero Ezra Bridger accessed the realm through a long-lost Jedi Temple on Lothal, he was able to rescue Ahsoka Tano from her nearly-fatal showdown with Darth Vader on Malachor ... only for Emperor Palpatine to detect their presence via the dark side and nearly enter the realm himself before Ezra and Ahsoka stopped him.

Will "Ahsoka" feature a live-action version of The World Between Worlds? Morgan's dark side-wielding crony Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) claims Thrawn holds the key to "Power, such as you've never dreamed," which, coupled with Morgan's comment, could mean that Thrawn has somehow tapped into The World Between Worlds. Is that a stretch? Absolutely, but even the mere possibility of Thrawn being able to time travel is too darn exciting to dismiss out of hand.

New episodes of "Ahsoka" premiere Tuesdays at 6 pm PST/9 pm EST on Disney+.

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Does ‘star wars: the rise of skywalker’ trailer confirm time travel.

The arrival of a classic Star Wars villain in the trailer of 'Rise of the Skywalker' may confirm that a massive moment from 'Star Wars Rebels' might be coming to the movies.

By Rosie Knight

Rosie Knight

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An evil laugh at the end of the trailer  Star Wars : Rise of Skywalker teases the return of Emperor Palpatine , something that feels fitting for the final chapter of the Skywalker saga and also raises a big question: how? 

The answer may be time travel, something that has precedent in Star Wars canon.

To truly understand this theory, and why it actually makes a lot of sense, we have to look back at the final episodes of Star Wars Rebels . The fan-favorite animated series followed Ezra Bridges and a ragtag group of the titular heroes, taking place between the events of the final film in the prequel trilogy ( Episode III: Revenge of the Sith ) and the first entry of the classic trilogy ( Episode IV: A New Hope ). As the series wrapped up, the action began to center around an ancient Jedi Temple on the planet of Lothal, which the Empire appeared to have nefarious plans for. As viewers reached the 13th episode, “A World Between Worlds,” the Temple ended being at the core of the series’ largest and most universe-shaking revelation.

Under the Lothal Temple, accessed by an ever-shifting mural of the Mortis family — the Father, the Daughter and the Son, who were first introduced in George Lucas’ original Clone Wars series — was something unlike anything that had ever been seen in the galaxy far, far away. It was a giant portal, which acted as a gateway to any moment or place in the entire universe. As Ezra wandered the infinite paths, voices from the past and present of Star Wars echoed through the space. It was a startlingly moving moment and one that changed everything.

In the words of an Imperial Minister, what was introduced was “a pathway between all space and time … whoever controls it controls the universe.” Ezra proved the power of the portals by pulling Ahsoka Tano out of her time and saving her from almost certain doom in the Malachor Sith Temple. It was a confirmation of not only the power of the mysterious realm but also of the ability to travel through time and space within the Star Wars universe.

So what does any of this have to do with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ? Well, the reason that the Empire was interested in the Temple on Lothal was the ability that it would have given the Emperor to control the entire Galaxy, completely. The Emperor and his minions were the few people who knew about the spectacular powers that were buried under the Lothal Temple, and while he was defeated it doesn’t mean that one of his disciples or followers couldn’t have learned about the abilities of the realm and the possibilities of discovering a similar space again.

The Rise of Skywalker filmmaker J.J. Abrams has talked about how he wants this entry into the series to unite the three trilogies, and with the instantly recognizable cackle of Palpatine and the arrival of actor Ian McDiarmid onstage after the trailer first played at Star Wars Celebration, it seems to confirm that the ultimate evil from has once again returned. But, of course, fans who have watched Star Wars were wondering how, and the events of “A World Between Worlds” seem to hint at an answer to that burning question.

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Does 'star wars: the rise of skywalker' title refer to rey.

It wouldn’t take much for The Rise of Skywalker to introduce the concept into the canon of the films, and there’s precedent for the animated world testing the boundaries of the galaxy before concepts are directly introduced into the films. Luke’s much-debated Force projection in The Last Jedi was actually already established in another Lothal-centric episode of Rebels during season two’s “Shroud of Darkness,” which saw Yoda project into the Temple from his cozy swamp on Dagobah. Another controversial The Last Jedi moment, Leia’s Force flight, had also been seen in cartoon form as Mother Talzin utilized Force levitation during The Clone Wars .

From the brief glimpse that fans got of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker , it seems like there will be plenty of planet hopping and some kind of search which sees our heroes venturing across the galaxy. The Force Awakens introduced the importance of relics, something that was highlighted by Kylo Ren and his connection to Vader’s helmet. But the real question is … where did he get it? The Star Wars cartoons and comics have focused heavily on the lore and mythology of the objects and spaces within the universe, so maybe that’s something that can be brought to the big screen.

The reason that arc is vital is that if the Resistance is looking for something vital to their future, and we know that at some point Kylo searched for an object that was key to his past, it’s likely that there’s a culture and economy based on Force relics. That means it’s also very reasonable that someone somewhere knows about the Lothal Temple, its magical mural and its secret. If that trade exists, just as it does in the non-cinematic world, then all it would take is one disciple of the Sith — perhaps Kylo’s old cohorts in the Knights of Ren — to discover the possibilities of the Jedi temples and harness them in an attempt to restore the Emperor to his former power.

It could explain McDiarmid’s return, as well as offering up a way to say goodbye to some of the series’ long-lost characters in a way that differs slightly from the Force Ghosts that fans have come to expect from the Star Wars spirit world. Whatever happens, we’ll have to wait until December to find out just how the Emperor will end up back onscreen, wreaking havoc once again on the galaxy far, far away.

Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker opens Dec. 20.

Lucasfilm's Kathleen Kennedy on Planning "Next 10 Years" of Star Wars Films

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How the Star Wars Kessel Run Turns Han Solo Into a Time-Traveler

You’ll hear any reputable Star Wars fan point it out eventually: Han Solo's famous boast that the Millennium Falcon “made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs" may have sounded impressive, but from an astronomical perspective, it made no sense. A parsec is a unit of distance, not time, so why would Solo use it to explain how quickly his ship could travel?

There are two stories going on here. The first is that Solo's famous line of dialog was simply a mistake of terminology. The second – the one I choose believe – is far more interesting, because it means that when Obi-Wan sat down across from the wryly smiling Han Solo in that cramped cantina, he met a time-traveling smuggler born at least 40 years before the events of The Phantom Menace ever took place.

A Parsec by Any Other Name

First coined in 1913 by British astronomer Herbert Hall Turner, the term "parsec" is a portmanteau of "parallax" and "second," and is defined as the distance from the Sun to an object that has a one-arcsecond (1⁄3,600 of a degree) parallax. What this awesome-to-say description really means is that if you were to draw a straight line between an object and the Earth, and a straight line between the object and the Sun, if the angle between the lines is one-arcsecond, then the object is one parsec away – or 3.26 light-years.

According to Star Wars: The Essential Atlas , the Kessel Run was an 18-parsec (59 light-year) route used by smugglers to get around Imperial blockades. So why would Solo describe how quickly he traveled it using a word that described distance?

It turns out that the expanded universe of the Star Wars franchise – the additional books and content created within the Star Wars universe but outside of the films – contains an answer to that question. The Essential Atlas maps a Kessel Run whose path travels around “The Maw,” a cluster of black holes. To cut down on the distance traveled, pilots could dangerously skirt the edges of the black holes, while trying to avoid spaghettification. If Solo was a skilled enough – or crazy enough – pilot to deviate from the typical route and fly close enough to the black holes to cut nearly 20 light-years off his space odometer, then his ship was fast indeed — the power required to stay out of the gape of an event horizon is something worth bragging about.

Image: Star Wars: The Essential Atlas

So by being able to dance around singularities, the Millennium Falcon establishes itself as a fast ship – and Solo's famous brag makes sense. But this brings up a bigger, more inherent problem: The Kessel Run that Solo completed covered nearly 40 light-years of cosmos. If the blasters and speeders and starships of Star Wars more or less follow the laws of physics, taking that famous run even once would change the entire chronology of Han Solo’s life.

One Hour, Three Years

In A New Hope , Solo establishes that the Millennium Falcon can go “0.5 past light speed,” dashing the hope for a completely scientifically accurate discussion. Light speed is the universal speed limit, and nothing can outrun it, not even Han’s beloved vessel. Try as you might, E=mc 2 is our description of nature’s constant attempt to foil your “jump to hyperspace.”

So for the purposes of calculating the Kessel Run, let's say the Millennium Falcon is the fastest ship ever. Somehow able to withstand the forces involved (perhaps it has something to do with that sweet tractor-beam tech), we can calculate what happens when Han and his baby go 99.9999999 percent the speed of light, or 0.999999999c.

Emily Mullin

Joel Khalili

C. Brandon Ogbunu

t': This is the amount of time passing for a stationary observer. Because of special relativity, time dilates or expands outward as the moving observer travels faster and faster. The faster Han goes, the less time he experiences — even if we see him traveling over light years. t: This is the amount of time passing for a moving observer. This is what Han Solo experiences in the Millennuum Falcon.

v: This is the velocity of the moving observer — Han Solo. c: This is the speed of light in a vacuum or around 186,000 miles per second.At these ludicrous speeds, time itself contracts. The faster you go, the slower you wade through time’s river. A clock running on a ship moving 99.9999999 percent the speed of light actually ticks more slowly for someone on that ship than a clock for an outside observer. Not only do clocks obey this contraction, but biology does too. Anyone on a hypervelocity ship will age more slowly than those not on the ship. It’s an astonishing conclusion, but it’s how the world actually works. For example, if we transport a super-accurate atomic clock across the globe by plane , we have to correct for the discrepancy between it and another clock on the ground. After six months in the International Space Station, orbiting astronauts have aged 0.007 seconds less than the rest of us.

Unfortunately for Han Solo – and the larger hope of long-distance, high-speed travel – time only contracts for the person who's moving. It marches on the same for everyone else. Using the equation for time dilation, we can see how much slower Han’s clock ticks while on the Millennium Falcon traveling at 99.9999999 percent the speed of light. Experiencing just one hour on the Falcon, Han returns to find everyone three years older.

Because the shortened Kessel Run spans 12 parsecs (39.6 light-years), a ship traveling nearly light-speed would take a little more than 39.6 years to get there. Factoring in time dilation, anyone watching the Kessel Run would see Solo speeding along for almost 40 years, but Solo himself would experience only a little more than half a day.

If you haven’t picked out the potential pitfall for the Star Wars timeline I’ll spell it out: In the time it takes Han to complete just one Kessel Run, the rest of the galaxy battles, negotiates, and force-chokes its way through almost 40 years – and pushes the date of Solo's birth 40 years further into the past.

The Long Con

In the Expanded Universe of Star Wars material, the timeline is numbered using the designation BBY, or “Before the Battle of Yavin,” which is the mustering of the rebellion and the destruction of the first Death Star. According to this timeline, the Millennium Falcon was constructed in 60BBY, so we know that there couldn’t have been a Solo Kessel Run in it before then. We also know that Han Solo won the Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a card game at 2BBY. Lastly, we're told that Han is around 29 years old at 0BBY.

A 40-year Kessel Run would mean that Han is chronologically much older than his physical appearance would indicate. In order to appear 29 years old during A New Hope , Han would have to be 29 years old 40 years before the events of the film. This pushes his birthday back from 29BBY to 69BBY, meaning that Han would have been born before Obi-Wan. Of course, Solo would literally not age a day from when he started the run, but the rest of the galaxy would age without him. Taking the Kessel Run would mean that Solo was entering his teens long before Anakin Skywalker was born, trained, and turned to the Dark Side.

In this alternate, physics-friendly timeline, Han Solo and Lando Calrissian are born almost 70 years before they ever lay eyes on Princess Leia’s hair buns. Once they are both around 30, they bet the Millennium Falcon in a card game, which Lando loses (if Han did make a Kessel Run with the Falcon, he would have to have won it long before 2BBY). Han then takes Lando and his prize out for a spin and sets a record by navigating a shorter route close to the black holes of The Maw on a journey to Kessel. When they return, they remain around 30 years old, but almost four decades have passed, and the Empire is amassing its forces.

Of course, there is the warp drive loophole. If you can traverse less distance by folding space itself, there is no time dilation problem. But because Han made that “0.5 past light-speed” remark – and because a warp drive device is never explicitly mentioned in Star Wars , as it is in say, Star Trek: The Next Generation – we still have all the chronological problems that come along with forward-only time travel.

And even if Han never personally jumped in the “fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy” and made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs, the chances are still pretty good he made the run without it. The Kessel Run was one of the most trafficked smuggling routes in the galaxy according to additional Star Wars canon. And Han was a seasoned smuggler at the time of A New Hope, already indebted to some unsavory slugs and charmingly shooting his way through Chia Pet-looking aliens. If he didn’t do it with the Falcon, he did it with some other ship. And a slower ship would only move his birth further into the past.

Extending the adventure in pedantry, we can graph the rapidly increasing age of Han Solo as a function of how many Kessel Runs he has been on. If we put his age at 29 in A New Hope , then each Kessel Run would cause his birthday to move further back into history. With only two runs under his belt, Han would be older, chronologically, than Emperor Palpatine.

One wonders how a smuggling run with such consequences could even work. Who has the foresight to smuggle something the other party won’t see for 40 years? And imagine how it would work for the smuggler. Off he goes on a Kessel Run, and barely 16 hours later – from his perspective – he returns to find a world changed: the remnants of a galactic clone war, the fall of one Jedi order and the rise of another, and the floating remnants of two Death Stars.

Angela Watercutter

Megan Farokhmanesh

Jennifer M. Wood

Will J.J. Abrams Use Time Travel in Star Wars 9 to Fix The Last Jedi?

The idea of time travel was introduced on the latest episodes of Star Wars Rebels, making the sci-fi element an official part of the canon.

Will director J.J. Abrams pull a little time travel magic in Star Wars 9 to fix some of the perceived flaws in The Last Jedi ? It's possible, now that time travel has entered the official Star Wars canon thanks to the latest episodes of Star Wars Rebels that aired this past week. There has to be something more to it than what we've seen thus far. Will it be used in the next big screen sequel? Or perhaps one of the two new trilogies coming from director Rian Johnson and the Game of Thrones guys? It appears the sky may be the limit.

With The Last Jedi heading to its inevitable home on VOD and Blu-ray, many fans are still mad about what the movie did to the franchise. So much so, that during its initial theatrical run (which hasn't lasted as long as Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle or The Greatest Showman ), a petition was launched to scrub The Last Jedi from the official canon. Now, with Time Travel an official part of Star Wars lore, including all upcoming movies, TV shows, and books, some fans are seeing this as the perfect opportunity for Abrams to go back and fix some of the perceived ideas that fans believed the latest sequel got so wrong.

The idea of time travel is not new in the Star Wars universe, but Star Wars Rebels is the first time it has been introduced as official canon. Some believe that Luke's training on Dagobah in The Empire Strikes Back was a function of time bending, as Luke appears to be training for a lot longer than Han, Leia, Chewbacca and C-3PO are stuck on that astroid and the time they spend in Bespin. But that hasn't fully been explored in any of the books as of yet to make the idea a reality. Recent books have explored the idea of a Force Nexus, which provides an abnormal concentration of Force energy. And it can result in time discrepancies. Some believe this is why Luke was able to train for as long as he did.

In Star Wars: The Clone Wars , Obi-Wan, Anakin, and Ahsoka discover the powerful time conduit Mortis. It made it appear as though the Jedi spent several days there, though to everyone else, it was just a matter of seconds. Here, we have time travel slowly being introduced into the official canon. But Rebels takes it even further. Now, it is confirmed that individuals in the Star Wars universe can directly affect events in different time periods.

Ezra discovers a World Between Worlds as he makes his way through a portal at the Lothal Jedi Temple. It is a place that stands outside of time and space. As he enters, he hears voices from across the entire spectrum of the Star Wars universe. In the show, we hear voices from all sorts of familiar characters, including future characters such as Rey and Kylo Ren along with those from the past.

Inside the portal, Ezra witnesses the climactic duel between Darth Vader and Ahsoka. Ezra is able to pull Ashoka out and into his timeline. This goes beyond mere time bending or manipulation. It means that anyone entering this portal could reach back in and save Han Solo from being killed by Kylo Ren, or stop Luke Skywalker from Force projecting himself during the climactic fight in The Last Jedi . Though it must be noted, Ezra does seal away the time portal on Lothal. Empire Palpatine, who is in this episode, never learns how to access it.

This new time travel function doesn't really change the Force or our understanding of how it's used. But it is a new idea we haven't seen in the official canon before. And that portal is still there, waiting to be rediscovered by someone, anyone, who is a powerful force user, such as Rey, who could go back and redo any and all things important enough. She is, after-all, heard in this scene during Rebels . There must be a bigger plan for the time portal on Lothal, otherwise why introduce it into the canon? Ahsoka eventually ends up back where she began and her fate is still the same. So did Ezra merely fix a time loop? Or will there be an as-yet seen ripple effect? As Yoda has stated in the past,"always in motion is the future."

So, it is definitely there at his disposal. If he felt so inclined, J.J. Abrams could utilize time travel to fix some of the conceived wrongs presented in The Last Jedi , but that doesn't mean that stuff didn't still happen. It will be interesting to see how this is used moving forward. It would be cool to see Han and Luke together again on the big screen, but using time travel to do it seems almost like a cheat. Seriously, if a Jedi was so inclined at this point, they could possibly go back and stop C-3PO and R2D2 from climbing aboard that shuttle, stopping them from reaching Tatooine, which would undo everything we've seen in A New Hope and the sequels that follow. Would Disney and Lucasfilm really allow that to happen? Who knows? As it stands, time travel was introduced in the latest episode of Disney's Star Wars Rebels and it's here to stay. Take that Force projection!

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Star Wars Movies In Order: How to Watch the Saga Chronologically

If you want to watch the Star Wars movies in chronological order, witnessing the separate rises of Anakin, Luke, and Rey as they unfolded in their timeline, we’ve ordered all the movies (and thrown in some bonus Mandalorian ) in one complete list.

The Star Wars movies are spread across three trilogies, with spin-offs and side-stories filling in the universe’s mythic lore. First comes the prequel trilogy ( The Phantom Menace , Attack of the Clones , and Revenge of the Sith ), introducing prodigy Anakin Skywalker and his fall from Jedi light side to become Darth Vader. You can wedge in 2008’s The Clone Wars between Attack and Revenge , which was followed up with its own, much better-received animated series . The Obi-Wan Kenobi show is set close after that.

Afterwards, it’s time to meet a certain space rogue in Solo: A Star Wars Story . Next in the timeline would be animated show Star Wars Rebels , which takes place simultaneously with Andor. The political thriller series famously leads into  Rogue One , a movie whose story events lead directly into the original trilogy. We’ll see Luke Skywalker emerging from the desert, his hero’s journey against the Galactic Empire seen across A New Hope , The Empire Strikes Back , and The Return of the Jedi . The infamous Star Wars Holiday Special , no longer canon, can be viewed between Hope and Empire if you’re into that kind of thing.

Additionally, two 1980s TV movies, Caravan of Courage: An Ewok Adventure and Ewoks: The Battle for Endor (also both now uncanonized) have generally been placed as occurring before Return of the Jedi .

But that’s all that remains for strange satellite films within Star Wars : In 2014, a great disturbance was felt when the Lucasfilm Story Group rebooted the canon, preserving the main films and shows, and punting the associated TV movies, books, games, and comics into the “ Star Wars Legends” category. That now leaves the reconstructive decades post- Return of the Jedi wide open for stories, with  The Mandalorian the first to officially toss his helmet in.

Finally, we approach the sequel trilogy, as Rey (last name pending) takes on the Jedi mantle in The Force Awakens , The Last Jedi , and The Rise of Skywalker . Animated series Star Wars Resistance runs parallel across the three sequel-trilogy movies. Now see the full list of Star Wars movies and shows in order below!  (And for more guides, check out  Star Wars  movies ranked by Tomatometer .) — Alex Vo

Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace (1999) 52%

Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones (2002) 65%

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) 19%

Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith (2005) 79%

Star Wars: The Bad Batch (2021) 87%

Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018) 69%

Obi-Wan Kenobi (2022) 82%

Star Wars Rebels (2014) 98%

Andor (2022) 96%

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) 84%

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope (1977) 93%

Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980) 95%

Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983) 83%

The Mandalorian (2019) 90%

The Book of Boba Fett (2021) 66%

Star Wars: Ahsoka (2023) 86%

Star Wars Resistance (2018) 92%

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015) 93%

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) 91%

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) 51%

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16 Best Time Travel Movies, Ranked

Time travel movies like the Back to the Future trilogy and Terminator 2 are just a few hits that stood out in the sci-fi sub-genre over the years.

Time travel is an evergreen premise for a story. Audiences are fascinated by stories that take place in the past or future, and this is especially true if the protagonist is from the present day.

RELATED: 10 Underrated Time Travel Movies

Meddling with the timestream in any capacity can have deadly results, and there are quite a few entries in the sci-fi sub-genre that explore the dangers of time travel. For every happy ending in a time travel movie comes five more that went the other way, creating dark stories that have continued to entertain fans for years.

Updated on April 24, 2023, by Isaac Williams: Time travel as a plot device opens up all sorts of tropes, themes, and concepts that are difficult to explore in other narratives. As a result, time travel crops up again and again in movies to the delight of audiences. We've updated this list with even more amazing time travel movies.

17 Hot Tub Time Machine

In 2010's Hot Tub Time Machine, a group of friends heads out on a nostalgic trip to a beloved party spot from the eighties. Unfortunately, their vacation spot is now a run-down resort, but a special hot tub with limited time-traveling capabilities saves the day and their vacation.

John Cusack, Rob Corddry, Craig Robinson, and Clark Duke played off each other for big laughs as they messed around with their own past. Hot Tob Time Machine also included a number of pop culture references that effectively established the conventional rules of time travel before putting its own spin on the sub-genre.

16 X-Men: Days Of Future Past

2014's X-Men: Days of Future Past loosely adapted the original comic storyline of the same name. Future versions of the original trilogy's cast returned to the long-running franchise to fight a war against dangerous mutant-hunting Sentinels. Wolverine goes back in time to stop the creation of the robotic threats with the help of the prequel trilogy's cast.

The futuristic scenes were a fun departure for the series, and Days of Future Past used time travel to bring the confusing continuity together. While it ultimately ended up causing quite a few inconsistencies and lasting questions that outlived the franchise, X-Men: Days of Future Past is still a great entry in the sub-genre.

Rian Johnson directed 2012's Looper, which starred Joseph Gordon-Levitt as the titular hitman. Agents from the future employ The Looper to kill and dispose of targets sent back through time. The Loopers make good money, though the career comes with a catch: the hitmen must - at some point - close their own loop by executing their future selves when they are sent back in time.

Bruce Willis played the future version of Gordon-Levitt's character, who managed to escape his fate in an attempt to try and change the future. According to Screen Rant , Gordon-Levitt wore prosthetics to better simulate his progression into the older Willis, which looked phenomenal when the two characters finally met. Looper is action-packed and developed a dark but beautiful futuristic world that still felt familiar.

14 Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

In 1989's Bill & Ted 's Excellent Adventure , two high-school best friends (Keanu Reeves and Alex Winter) dream of starting a legendary rock band. However, their dreams will fall apart if they fail their history report. Their peaceful future depends on them staying together, so George Carlin's Rufus brings a time-traveling phone booth to the Circle K back to help them save the future.

RELATED: 10 Best Teen Movies Of The 1980s, Ranked

As Bill and Ted traveled through different eras to collect important historical figures for their class, the audience fell in love with the good-hearted rockers as they discovered a passion for history. The utopian future was also beautiful and teased a larger destiny for Bill and Ted that would be explored in the sequels.

Christopher Nolan directed 2020's Tenet starring John David Washington as the main character, who is never given a name. The Protagonist is a highly-trained special agent who must investigate a new technology from the future that can invert objects through time. He uncovers a deadly plot to destroy the past, present, and future.

Tenet featured beautifully-composed action scenes and mind-blowing shots of opposing forces moving in different directions through time on the same battlefield. Washington and Robert Pattinson shared great chemistry, while Elizabeth Debicki and Kenneth Branagh each delivered scene-stealing performances.

12 12 Monkeys

Bruce Willis starred alongside Madeline Stowe and Brad Pitt in Terry Gilliam's 1995 post-apocalyptic thriller 12 Monkeys . Willis played James Cole, a prisoner in a future where humanity must live underground to escape an airborne plague. He went back in time to investigate the cause of the plague and unlock the secrets of his own past.

12 Monkeys feels like a fever dream because of the frequent and confusing trips back and forth through time as Willis' Cole explored the dark mystery in the past. However, Willis and Pitt's performances helped this time travel tale achieve cult status, which later inspired a four-season-long TV series.

11 Timecrimes

2007's Timecrimes / Los cronocrímenes from writer/director Nacho Vigalondo is Spanish triller. The dizzying story follows a man who finds himself caught in a time loop with a killer whose face is wrapped in masked bandages. Héctor uses a time machine to go back in time for one hour, where he discovered the dark truth about the killer and himself.

RELATED: 10 Foreign Films That Still Need To Be Translated Into English

Timecrimes is a low-budget hit that shocked audiences with its complex but fast-paced story that explored the genre in exciting new ways. Unforgettably dark twists and a fantastic performance from Karra Elejalde helped make Timecrimes a time travel hit.

2004's Primer was a low-budget indie hit from writer-director Shane Carruth. He also stars as one of the engineers who accidentally stumbles upon a way to travel back in time for a few hours each day. Carruth's Aaron and David Sullivan's Abe begin to experiment with their discovery, but things quickly become convoluted and a dangerous side effect of the time travel takes a toll on their bodies.

Primer doesn't dumb down the science or shy away from mathematical discussions, but the complexities of the story pay off with a jaw-dropping finale. While Primer doesn't always make sense, it still stands out as one of the best time travel movies ever made.

9 Terminator 2: Judgment Day

James Cameron returned to direct 1991's Terminator 2: Judgment Day , the sequel to his horror hit from the '80s . A new Terminator with advanced technology heads to the past to kill the future leader of humanity's resistance. Meanwhile, Arnold Schwarzenegger's Terminator returned to the franchise to protect the teenager who will, one day, defend the future.

Many fans consider Terminator 2: Judgment Day as the gold standard for a movie sequel. It was the first sequel in the long-running sci-fi franchise, but it continues to impress audiences with ground-breaking special effects that still hold up today.

8 Star Trek: First Contact

Star Trek is one of science fiction's oldest and most storied franchises. It has explored almost every trope the genre has to offer, including time travel. Star Trek: First Contact centers around time travel when the Enterprise crew travel back in time to prevent Borg interference.

RELATED: Every Star Trek Series, Ranked By IMDb

Star Trek: First Contact doesn't do anything revolutionary with the time travel premise or examine it from a scientific lens. Nonetheless, fans still consider it one of the best Star Trek films ever. Enterprise's fight against the Borg embodies the best moments and stories from Star Trek: The Next Generation .

7 Army Of Darkness

The Evil Dead franchise is unlike most time travel stories because it isn't science fiction. Army of Darkness is a pulpy comedy-horror movie that uses time travel as its central premise. It follows on from the cliffhanger ending of Evil Dead II, as Ash Williams finds himself trapped in the Middle Ages after his last fight with Deadites.

Army of Darkness uses Ash's circumstances for both drama and comedy. His main goal is to return to the present day, and his futuristic knowledge and tools are vital to the Deadites' defeat. At the same time, his outsider nature and unconventional persona lead to plenty of jokes. While Army of Darkness doesn't take time travel seriously, the movie is all the better for it.

6 Interstellar

Many time travel films play fast and loose with the laws of physics, which is a necessity for most of the genre. However, Interstellar sets itself apart by being as accurate as possible. The movie tries to explore and justify several different kinds of time travel through a scientific lens.

Interstellar focuses on the quest to find a habitable planet as Earth loses the ability to support human life. Protagonist Cooper explores several worlds orbiting the black hole Gargantua. The film explores realistic time travel through time dilation, and later more speculative means enabled by humanity's advanced descendants. Instellar is visually stunning , compelling, and many experts' favorite sci-fi film.

5 Avengers: Endgame

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of the most popular and successful entertainment franchises ever. The closest it has to a single climactic moment is Avengers: Endgame , which wraps up many long-running plot threads and bids farewell to many beloved characters.

RELATED: 15 Ways Avengers: Endgame Is Still The Best MCU Movie

In Avengers: Endgame , the titular team travels back in time to undo Thanos' crushing victory in Avengers: Infinity War . Unlike most cases, they don't try to change the past. Instead, they try to gather the Infinity Stones in the present day. Endgame is a cultural touchstone, a film that may define a generation of cinema.

4 Groundhog Day

Groundhog Day features an unusual variant of time travel. Protagonist Phil Connors finds himself repeating the same day over and over again while he lives in a small town and works a job he hates. He goes through countless iterations of that day, unable to find any way to leave town or move on with his life.

Groundhog Day is a magical realism romantic comedy , but it's so much more than that. Its time-loop plot has left its mark on pop culture and inspired countless other films. Between jokes, the film also has some genuine insights into social interaction, the power of every person's choices, and the human condition as a whole.

2 Planet Of The Apes

Planet of the Apes is an unusual time travel film because it doesn't reveal its time travel plot until the very end. Planet of the Apes's events take place many years in Earth's future, but the characters believe themselves to be on another world in the present.

Planet of the Apes is a sci-fi classic for a reason. Its premise is instantly gripping, and it delicately sprinkles philosophical themes throughout its narrative. Its final plot twist, which the audience only knows about because of a ruined Statue of Liberty, is one of the best twist endings ever made.

1 Back To The Future

The first Back to the Future movie hit theaters in 1985 and starred Michael J. Fox as Marty McFly, a high school student who is friends with the brilliant Doc Brown, played by Christopher Lloyd. The first test of the Delorean time machine results in Marty traveling 30 years into the past. He then accidentally interferes with the lives of his teen parents, which threatens his own existence.

Back to the Future was a huge hit and was quickly followed with two more successful entries. The time-travel mechanics even established a set of rules that influenced other sci-fi movies. This, combined with the impressive performances, makes Back to the Future the best time-travel movie .

NEXT: 10 Funniest Time Travel Comedy Movies

The 21st Century’s Best Time Travel Movie So Far Is a Low-Budget Rom-Com

You're guaranteed to be chewing on this one for months, two minutes at a time.

The Big Picture

• Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is a cerebrally enjoyable Japanese rom-com that takes time travel to another level, with twists that subvert expectations.
• The film seamlessly constructs its intricately plotted time travel mechanics, appearing as if it's all one shot, adding another level to its perfect timing.
• At its core, the film is a rom-com that explores self-fulfilling prophecies and the fear of the future, offering character work amidst its goofy time-traveling escapades.

We all love a time travel movie , especially one that features lots and lots of twists to subvert our expectations at every turn, but this 2020 microbudget Japanese rom-com takes it to another level to become one of the most cerebrally enjoyable movies of the 21st century . Get ready to scratch your brains until your mind gets lost in an infinite chaos loop, all with a smile on your face, as Junta Yamaguchi ’s Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes channels all of the chaos of Rick and Morty at their most ambitious crossed with the sincerity of a Friends episode . Time travel has consistently proven itself to be one of the best sci-fi tropes to materialize on a shoestring budget, with films like Shane Carruth’s Primer blowing minds across the globe in spite of only costing $7,000. The trick lies in the fact that the ingenuity doesn’t come from VFX work as much as it does the temporal paradox spun from the twisted minds of their writers. But without further ado, let’s get into what makes Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes such a marvel to behold, even among what’s come before.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes was written by Makoto Ueda and stars Kazunari Tosa as Kato, a down-on-his-luck café owner who’s trying to get a career in music up and running, but there’s one problem… he can’t find his guitar pick! Luckily, while searching for it in his room, a version of himself from exactly two minutes into the future pops up on the screen of his monitor, telling him that it’s under the rug. He finds it but is then told by his future self to run downstairs to the café’s monitor (where he’s speaking from) in order to give himself the same message. The mechanics recall the “time fights” from Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey , where telling themselves to remember to place something somewhere specific later will lead to that object manifesting before them in the moment. Just make sure you wrap your head around that one first because it only gets trickier from here on out.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes

A cafe owner discovers that the TV in his cafe suddenly shows images from the future, but only two minutes into the future.

What Happens in 'Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes'?

As Kato delivers his message to the café shop’s monitor, he’s noticed by the café’s Aya ( Riko Fujitani ), who upon discovering the “Time TV,” much to the behest of Kato, invites all of their goofy friends over to check it out. Shenanigans and bickering on par with the best Always Sunny episodes ensue, as the friends venture to Kato’s room to discover themselves, from two minutes into the future, instructing them to perform tasks. These range from Kato asking out Megumi ( Aki Asakura ), the girl at the shop next door, to finding a rare collectible toy bug from a vending machine, to discovering a large wad of cash in a specific place on the street (incoming: disastrous consequences). The film directly questions the nature of a self-fulfilling prophecy, as all members of the gang feel completely compelled to reenact the messages that they receive, even if they end up deceiving themselves in the process .

Naturally, seeing a mere two minutes in the future only excites the gang for so long before they decide to go bigger. To their knowledge, the monitor in Kato’s room represents two minutes into the past, whereas the one in the café transmits two minutes into the future. The gang’s resident brainiac Ozawa ( Yoshifumi Sakai ) then comes up with a plan. If they position the monitors towards one another, it creates a Droste effect , creating an infinite number of screens within screens that get smaller and smaller but allow them to see an extra two minutes into the future with every level. It’s a time loop that requires the film to map out every action two minutes ahead and behind the current time stamp, as the gang receives more and more warnings about what will happen as a result of their actions. You have to see it to believe it, but a confusing plotline is hardly all that this gem has to offer.

‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’ Gives ‘Birdman’ a Run for Its Money

Thanks to the rise of digital filmmaking, Birdman and 1917 are but two of the many films crafted to look like one shot even if they actually aren’t. That Birdman was snubbed for a Best Editing nomination at its year’s Academy Awards proves incredibly short-sighted, as while its presentation leads viewers to believe that it didn’t require much cutting, it’s one of the most carefully edited films of all time . Its invisibility is a reflection of its skill rather than the other way around and Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is no exception, seamlessly constructed to appear as if it’s all one shot.

Similar to 2017’s One Cut of the Dead , Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes belongs to the nagamawashi genre , a Japanese subgenre based on long shots and low budgets. In One Cut of the Dead , the effect is used to craft a delicious zombie comedy about movie-making, while Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes uses it to illustrate the seamlessness of its intricately plotted time travel mechanics . The film would likely work just as well without such a device, even if the device itself adds another level to the perfect timing required to pull something of this caliber off to begin with. If nothing else, it speaks to the fact that if you blink or lose focus for even a second, you’re guaranteed to get as lost as Roronoa Zoro on his way to help out Luffy and his crew.

‘Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes’ Is a Rom-Com at Heart

Naturally, it’s only a matter of time before the lovable gang’s antics catch up with them, with violent yakuza and time cops but a few of the consequences coming their way. However, the film’s third act reveals itself for what it truly is: one long adorable meet-cute for Kato and Megumi, both of whom share one overwhelming character flaw. In Steven Spielberg ’s Jaws , Richard Dreyfuss ’s Brody is afraid of the water, and so naturally must venture out into the literal ocean to vanquish this mighty sea beast. It’s only fitting then that Kato’s flaw in Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes comes from the fact that he hates and fears the future . This isn’t like how Spike Lee’s 25th Hour fears the future , but more like how Roland Emmerich ’s 2012 does.

Towards the end of the film, Kato talks about the fact that growing up, his belief in Y2K or 2012 end-of-the-world conspiracy theories meant that he never desired or worked for anything, as he assumed that by the time he reached adulthood, the world would have perished anyway. He’s therefore left bitter over the fact that he has yet to accomplish anything as a result. It’s the reason he’s feared asking Megumi out for the longest time and why his self-fulfilling prophecy as a result of the “Time TV” initially leads to disappointment. If anything, however, it illustrates the inherent character work present in such a goofy time-traveling escapade, leaving its viewers with something that doesn’t just satisfy them for the way that it all clicks, but for what its characters endure.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes may not be the easiest film to understand, but at a brisk and always-entertaining 71 minutes, repeat viewings are bound to be rewarded . It’s Christopher Nolan’s Tenet by way of Adam Sandler’s Click (a sentence I’m sure you thought it’d be a while before you read) but if there’s one thing truly infinite about this film, it’s not the temporal mind games, but the playfulness in its heart.

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes is available to watch on Amazon Prime in the U.S.

Watch on Amazon Prime

Star Wars movies in order: the correct and chronological way to watch the films

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, George Lucas launched a film franchise that won the hearts and minds of cinephiles worldwide.

The filmmaker created one of the most enduringly popular worlds in Hollywood when Star Wars : A New Hope lit up cinema screens 42 years ago.

Few could have quite imagined the impact the film would have when it was first released in 1977, capturing the imagination of both the young and old alike

And not only did the franchise introduce some of the most recognisable characters in science fiction , it also bore some of the most memorable lines ever in film.

Things came to a close with the last ever film in the franchise, Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker , landing in UK cinemas in 2019. But with several spin-off shows, and more in the pipeline, Star Wars’s legacy will surely live on for decades.

With fans all over the world set to celebrate Star Wars Day on May 4th, now is the perfect time for your to catch up on all of the action.

That said, with so many films to choose from, that's somewhat easier said that done. It can be difficult knowing where to start with the space-opera franchise, especially as they weren't released chronologically. For instance, the Phantom Menace was released in 1999 but set more than three decades before the events of the first film. Similarly, 2015's The Force Awakens is set 30 years after the end of the Galactic Civil War in 1983's Return of the Jedi and 2016's The New Hope is set just before the events in 1977's A New Hope. Confused yet?

While the original intention may have been for fans to watch the films in the order they opened in cinemas, doing so means the story gets muddled. Here, then, we take a look at how to best watch all of the Star Wars films and what order they should be seen in.

Star Wars films in chronological order, within its own universe

Star Wars consists of three trilogies, two stand-alone films and an animated one. The titles of the main features – episode one, episode two and so on – is a fairly big hint at the best way to enjoy them.

The prequel trilogy

Star wars: episode i – the phantom menace (released 1999).

The first film of the prequel franchise was released to much fanfare in 1999, 16 years after 1983's Return of the Jedi closed the book on the original, seminal, trilogy.

Set 32 years before the events of 1977's A New Hope during the days of the Great Republic, a young Obi-Wan Kenobi (played by Ewan McGregor ) and his Jedi knight master Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) are sent to resolve a huge inter-planetary trade dispute between the Trade Federation and Naboo. The pair are also tasked with protecting Naboo's Queen Amidala to secure a peaceful end to the blockade.

Poorly received on its release despite extensive media coverage, the film unfortunately also introduced us to the excellent Darth Maul but also the supremely annoying Jar Jar Binks – considered by fans to be among the worst characters in the entire franchise.

Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones (released 2002)

Set a decade after the events of The Phantom Menace, the second installment of the prequel trilogy sees Jedi Padawan Anakin (who is training under Obi-Wan) sent to protect Padme Amidala (Natalie Portman) following an assassination attempt. Obi-Wan meanwhile investigates the assasination attempt, while all around them the Republic is on the brink of civil war thanks to the threats of growing separatist movements.

Culminating in the Clone Wars between the Republic and the separatists, it serves as a fairly important film in the franchise as it sets up events nicely for the The Clone Wars movie.

However, it didn't fare much better than The Phantom Menace on its release, and was criticised for underwhelming and dull action scenes and flawed dialogue.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (released 2008)

The first animated film in the franchise is set during during the Clone Wars in a three-year period after the events of Attack of the Clones and before Revenge of the Sith.

Anakin is now a Jedi Knight and he and his apprentice Ahsoka are sent to rescue the kidnapped son of Jabba the Hutt, Rotta, as Obi-Wan tries to negotiate a treaty between the Hutts and the Republic.

Considered one of the worst Star Wars films, The Clone Wars was heavily criticised for its animation and script. Still, it performed well at the box office and sets things up nicely for the next film.

Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith (released 2005)

The third and final installment in the prequel trilogy finally sets up the introduction for one of the greatest and recognisable villains of all time – Darth Vader , albeit towards the end. Set three years after the onset of the Clone Wars, Revenge of the Sith is the culmination of nearly 10 years of filmmaking as the war reaches a massive and deadly conclusion which sees the Jedis wiped out and Anakin turn to the dark side.

Emperor Palpatine is finally revealed as the evil Sith Lord Darth Sidious while Obi-Wan and Yoda are forced to go into hiding. A mutilated Anakin is left for dead following a battle with Obi-Wan, before he is rescued and given his famous black armoured suit while his secret wife Padme dies after giving birth to Luke and Leia.

Often considered to be a high point of the prequel trilogy, critics praised its action and its effects.

Anthology series

Solo: a star wars story (released 2018).

Disney's stand alone spin-off serves as a neat origins story for Star Wars hero Han Solo . The young pilot joins a gang of galactic smugglers who, indebted to crime boss Dryden Voss, hatch a plan to steal valuable coaxium.

Set 10 years before the events of a New Hope, the film introduces us to both the plucky pilot and his Wookie friend Chewbacca , and also explains how Solo got his hands on the Millenium Falcon. A riotously fun escape caper, this is one for the fans and contains many nods to the franchise's past.

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (released 2016)

The first installment of Disney's anthology series is set just before the events of A New Hope and attempts to explain some of the franchise's storyline.

It sets up the events of a New Hope Nicely as Jyn Erso is recruited by the Rebellion to contact her former mentor Saw Gerrera in order to steal the plans for the Death Star.

Not only does it have a great ending featuring supervillain Darth Vader, but it also leads right up to the beginning of a New Hope with Leia on a recognisable ship and the almost complete destruction of the Rebel Alliance fleet.

Original trilogy

Star wars episode iv: a new hope (released 1977).

The film that started it all and still one of the best. A New Hope, released in 1977, introduced us to the franchise's main characters – Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker is a simple moisture farmer who accidentally stumbles upon a holographic message from Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) pleading for help in her fight against the Galactic Empire from Obi-Wan – nearly 20 years after Revenge of the Sith.

The film's plot follow's the Rebel Alliance, led by Leia, and its attempt to destroy the Death Star. Not only do we meet Luke and Leia but also Harrison Ford 's Han Solo, Alec Guinness' Obi-Wan along with droids R2-D2 and C-3PO and the evil Darth Vader.

Groundbreaking on its release, the film changed the game for sci-fi movies and carved out a special place in many a film-goer's heart for the franchise.

Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back (released 1980)

Widely recognised as the best Star Wars movie in its entire 40-year franchise, The Empire Strikes Back built on the cinematic world A New Hope and took the viewer much further, from the frozen landscapes of Hoth to the swamp planet of Dagobah.

Set three years after the events of A New Hope, Darth Vader is on a relentless galaxy-wide hunt to find Luke and the rest of the rebels, who narrowly escape from the Galactic Empire on the ice planet of Hoth.

Not only does it introduce us to legendary characters like Lando Calrissian and Yoda, it also features some of the most iconic moments in the series – from Darth Vader’s ‘father’ reveal to the unforgettable AT-AT Walker battle and Han Solo’s burgeoning romance with Princess Leia. Often considered as one of the best films ever made – and for good reason.

Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi (released 1983)

The final film in the original trilogy takes place one year after the events of the Empire Strikes Back. Droids C-3PO and R2-D2 are set to rescue Han from evil crime lord Jabba the Hutt, and are soon joined by Leia and Luke.

Escaping from Tatooine, the rebels learn the Empire is constructing another Death Star under the guidance of the Emperor himself and attempt to stop it. Luke struggles to convince his father to return from the dark side while Darth and the Emperor try and convince Luke to join them.

Considered a good if slightly flawed film by fans, the only real problem with Return of the Jedi is that it was preceded by two really great films – despite the appearance of the irritating Ewoks.

Sequel trilogy

Star wars episode vii: the force awakens (released 2015).

Director JJ Abrams ' first foray into the Star Wars franchise sees our band of heroes – Leia, now a general, Han Solo and Chewbacca – take on the First Order, a successor to the Galactic Empire.

Set 30 years after Return of the Jedi, the First Order, led by new bad guy Kylo Ren, wants to wipe out the New Republic but faces opposition from the Resistance, led by Leia who is searching for her brother Luke. Rogue stormtrooper Finn and scavenger Rey stumble upon a map of Luke's whereabouts and join the Alliance alongside Han, Leia and Chewy to destroy a superweapon which can obliterate planets.

Praised as a return to form on its release in 2015, it introduced a new generation of compelling characters, including the most conflicted and multi-faceted villain of the franchise, Kylo Ren.

Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (released 2017)

Set immediately after the ending of the Force Awakens, 2017's the Last Jedi follow's the Resistance's attempts to escape the First Order.

Meanwhile Rey is reluctantly receiving Jedi training from Luke, who insists that he can't help the dwindling power of the Resistance. Rey finds that she has an increasingly strong connection to Ren, and events come to a dramatic conclusion between them and Luke.

While some argued the film strayed too far from the franchise's roots, others insisted it was one of the best since its heyday.

Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker​ (released December 2019)

Set a year after the events of 2017's The Last Jedi, Episode IX bought the 42-year franchise to a conclusion.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker sees the Resistance finally facing off against the First Order, while the conflict between the Jedi and the Sith reached its conclusion.

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In 1982, a ridiculous sci-fi western completely subverted the time travel movie

Sometimes it takes a b-movie to embrace the stupid joy of flinging someone into the past.

Can a film be described as a fish-out-of-water if the fish doesn’t realize they’re out of water? That’s one of the many conundrums posed by Timerider: The Adventure of Lyle Swann , a curious time travel western which may well have given the Back to the Future franchise some ideas.

Directed by William Dear ( Harry and the Hendersons ), the 1982 film stars the late Fred Ward as Swann, a dirt bike racer seemingly more concerned with pimping out his XT500 Yamaha than riding it to victory. “Made entirely from farm animals,” he deadpans when asked about his latest contraption. “Runs like a rocket up to 60, at which point, I punch this little button here, the whole thing turns into an adult motel.”

The techhead stops wisecracking, however, when participation in Mexico’s prestigious Baja 100 leads him into an area which, considering its potential world-changing significance, probably should’ve been cordoned off.

As a booming voiceover explains, it’s here where the International Computel Corporation is attempting to carry out a time travel experiment with a Rhesus monkey christened Esther G. Who knows what they expect the poor simian to do once transported back to the previous century? However, the team’s priorities become skewed when Swann enters the fray at the exact moment of “maser velocity acceleration.”

The process runs so smoothly the accidental passenger doesn’t even notice that he’s entered an era when the motorbike hasn’t been invented yet. Even when Swann comes face to face with a gang of outlaws bewildered by the sight of his bright red vehicle, he simply believes he’s stumbled across a primitive desert town.

Disappointingly, Timerider never fully leans into the premise’s comic potential. A surreal conversation with some of the friendlier locals about Kmart glow sticks only hints at what could have been. Yet as claimed by Mike Nesmith , the one-time Monkees guitarist who co-produced the film and provided its wonderfully corny ’80s synth-rock soundtrack, it does have a “twinkle in its eye.”

Fred Ward as unknowing time traveler Lyle Swann.

There’s certainly fun to be had in watching how the people of 1877 react to Swann’s new-fangled machinery: Some shoot it in terror as it hurtles toward them during one of the western genre’s more unusual horseback chases, others decry it as a work of Satan, and one hapless man even keels over from shock. Then there’s gang leader Porter Reese (a scenery-chewing Peter Coyote) who, convinced it would have guaranteed the Confederates victory in, becomes fixated on getting his filthy hands on it.

The game cast also appear fully aware the whole thing isn’t meant to be taken too seriously, delivering lines like “You yellow craphead” and “You blew his nose clean off” with just the right amount of zeal. Enjoying his first starring role, Ward is particularly impressive as the no-nonsense everyman who takes his new-found Most Wanted status at face value before the last-minute realization kicks in.

Yes, Swann eventually discovers the truth following a dramatic mountaintop rescue complete with an unexpected decapitation that no doubt blew the minds of its teenage boy audience. And remarkably, an accidental beaming into the Wild West isn’t the most notable thing he has to digest.

The moment Swann unwittingly travels to 1877.

The racer had previously regaled love interest Claire (Belinda Bauer) with a story about the neck pendant passed through the family from his great-great-grandmother, who, to celebrate the “one incredible night they had together,” had stolen it from his great-great-grandfather.

The film’s only notable woman, Claire is a surprisingly feminist creation for such a boys’ adventure. She single-handedly takes out Porter’s minion, Carl (Tracey Walter), to protect Swann and his dirt bike. She also takes full control in the bedroom, essentially forcing her guest to remove his clothes at gunpoint. Okay, so she’s a problematic feminist. She also ignores Swann’s pleas to hop aboard a helicopter to safety, ripping the family heirloom from his neck in the process.

Suddenly making a giant yet ultimately correct leap in logic, Swann works out that not only has he unwittingly committed incest with a distant relative, but that he’s also his own great-great-grandfather. And you thought Marty McFly’s familial relationships were messed up.

The locals (including the horse) are puzzled by the concept of a bike.

Dear, who cut his teeth on sexploitation flick Nymph before directing another more conventional outlaw biker movie, Northville Cemetery Massacre , isn’t interested in exploring any existential crisis Swann might develop. The credits essentially start rolling the moment he makes the connection.

This unwillingness to pose any great philosophical questions — or indeed many questions at all — led to some rather dismissive criticism. The New York Times’ Vincent Canby , for example, stormed out of his screening with 35 minutes to spare, claiming it was obvious no one “had the remotest idea” of what they were doing.”

That does Dear, Nesmith, and Ward, in particular, a disservice. They all clearly understood they were making a piece of testosterone-fueled escapism which, like the wayward hero, simply needed to reach its destination as efficiently as possible.

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May the 4th be with you: Watch all 9 'Star Wars' movies in a row at Showcase Cinema

These are the droids, and the movie marathon, you’re looking for.

"Star Wars" fans are about to have one of the best Star Wars Days in recent memory .

They will have the chance to watch all nine films of the Skywalker Saga, in order, in a special movie theater marathon.

From the sands of Tatooine, to forbidden kisses by the lake in Naboo, deadly political secrets in Coruscant, and heroes rising from the dust of Jakku, experience it all on the big screen, set to sweeping, iconic scores by the incomparable John Williams.

This mega movie marathon also comes with some perks and surprises that you won’t need an elevated M-count to enjoy.

Here’s what you need to know, before you hop into the Millennium Falcon and head to the theater:

SouthCoast on screen: The top 25 movies made locally or about southeastern Mass. ranked

Where can you see the Skywalker Saga May the 4th marathon?

You can see the Skywalker Saga May the 4th marathon at Showcase Cinema de Lux Legacy Place , 670 Legacy Place, Dedham. It will be the only location in New England to host the event, according to a press release from Showcase Cinemas.

When will the 'Star Wars' movie marathon take place?

This 23-hour marathon will coincide with Star Wars Day on May 4, which gets its moniker because of one of the franchise’s iconic lines: “May the Force be with you”; “May the fourth be with you.”

The marathon begins at 8 p.m. on Friday, May 3, and continues until Saturday, May 4, at 6:45 p.m.

'The Borden Bequest': Murder mystery dinner combines intrigue, fictional local history

Will there be breaks?

Short breaks will be offered between films, so that guests can stretch, use the restroom, or freshen up their snack haul or drinks.

What is the Skywalker Saga?

The Skywalker Saga consists of the three "Star Wars" trilogies: original, prequel, and sequel. The original trilogy started it all, with our Rebel heroes defeating the Empire, and destroying the Death Star, not once but twice. The prequels tell the story and the tragedy of Anakin Skywalker, and the fall of the Republic. The sequel trilogy takes place a couple of decades after the events of the original trilogy, bringing back old favorites and introducing new ones, as the Resistance fights off the remnants of the Empire and the insidious First Order.

The event will show all nine movies in order from "Episode I: The Phantom Menace" to "Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker."

What else will be shown during the Skywalker Saga marathon?

View all nine films of the Skywalker Saga, and enjoy a special look at the upcoming Disney+ series “ The Acolyte ,” set during the High Republic Era, long before the events of the Skywalker Saga. “The Acolyte” premieres on Tuesday, June 4.

What’s included with a ticket to the Skywalker Saga movie marathon?

Tickets include: a limited edition poster and keepsake badge; "Star Wars"-themed menu offerings, including signature cocktails; 25% off food and beverage purchases during the marathon; special fan experiences, like Yoda yoga and stormtrooper photos opps; plus other fun surprises.

Yoda yoga will be offered during the morning breakfast break.

How much are tickets?

Tickets are $40 for general admission, and $35 for Starpass members.

Where to buy tickets for the Skywalker Saga marathon

Purchase tickets online at https://tinyurl.com/47muhecj .

Where to find more information about the Skywalker Saga May the 4th marathon

For more information, visit https://tinyurl.com/47muhecj .

Herald News/Taunton Daily Gazette copy editor and digital producer Kristina Fontes can be reached at [email protected] . Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News and Taunton Daily Gazette today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: What to know about Skywalker Saga Star Wars movie marathon May 3 and 4

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Disney Store's Star Wars Day 2024 Collection: Shop Exclusive Styles Ahead of May the 4th

It’s time to travel to a galaxy far, far away and discover clothing, collectibles, and more inspired by the epic Star Wars saga.

Soon approaching our galaxy is Star Wars Day, on Saturday, May 4, which is the day Star Wars enthusiasts unite to celebrate their love of the storied franchise. This year, the Disney Store is celebrating Star Wars Day with three new merchandise collections that are so appealing we would join the dark side just to get our hands on these exclusive Star Wars products.

Disney Store's May the Fourth Collections

It's not a trap! Whether you’re a diehard  Star Wars  fan yourself, can't contain your excitement for the upcoming series The Acolyte , or know a young Padawan, head over to the  Disney Store  because you'll want to shop the new exclusive styles. In honor of May 4, 2024, the retailer just unveiled a bunch of clothing, collectibles, toys and more to celebrate Star Wars Day . 

Kick your love of all things Star Wars into hyperdrive by shopping the new collection inspired by the peachy sands of Tatooine or consider Will Gay's Artist Series Collection which features merch with his original designs of your favorite characters including Chewbacca and Boba Fett. That's not all, the Disney Store has even released an entire collection of May the Fourth-themed merchandise just for the galactic holiday.

Travel to a galaxy far, far away and be one with the fourth when you discover the new May the 4th collections inspired by the epic saga. We've taken a look through all the new, exclusive Star Wars items at the Disney Store and gathered our favorites below.

Star Wars Sands of Tatooine Spirit Jersey for Adults

The Tatooine landscape is displayed on this pink jersey featuring puffy Star Wars lettering.

Star Wars Sands of Tatooine Loungefly Mini Backpack

While the Tatooine Ear Headband is sold separately, it attaches perfectly to this matching Tatooine-inspired backpack.

Star Wars Sands of Tatooine Stainless Steel Starbucks Water Bottle

Starbucks has even gotten in on the May the 4th action with this stainless steel water bottle. 

Star Wars Artist Series Bowl Set by Will Gay

Make your Star Wars movie marathon even better by munching on popcorn from these whimsical bowls showcasing your favorite scenes. 

Star Wars Artist Series Throw Blanket by Will Gay

This sherpa throw blanket is just as soft and cuddly as the Ewoks displayed on it.

Star Wars Artist Series Glass Pitcher by Will Gay

Pour your drinks from this glass Star Wars pitcher to pay homage to the beloved space opera and don't forget the matching glasses .

Star Wars: May the 4th Be with You 2024 T-Shirt for Adults

C-3PO and R2-D2 are the stars of this tee made in honor of Star Wars Day.

Star Wars Day 2024: ''May The 4th Be With You'' Baseball Cap for Adults

Celebrate the day with this commemorative cap.

Star Wars Artist Series Bucket Hat for Adults by Will Gay

A bucket hat will come in handy on sunny days of summer and as a bonus this one has Star Wars artwork.

Star Wars: May the 4th Be With You 2024 Stainless Steel Water Bottle with Straw

This stainless steel Star Wars drinkware with a straw will help you keep hydrated.

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10 things movies always get wrong about time travel.

One of the most popular plot devices in science fiction, time travel is also among the most misunderstood scientific ideas thanks to the movies.

• Time travel movies often ignore the relationship between time and space, failing to account for the inseparable variable of spacetime.
• Most movie time machines disregard the two theoretical methods of time travel: faster-than-light (FTL) travel and the use of wormholes or black holes.
• Time loops, although popular in movies, are more of a narrative twist than a scientifically plausible theory according to Stephen Hawking's chronology protection conjecture.

While it may be one of the most popular ideas in science fiction, there are so many things that movies get wrong about time travel. There's never been a real-world example of time travel — at least not one that's been unanimously confirmed to be genuine by the international physics community. As it stands, time travel, as in the act of traveling to the past or at an accelerated rate to the future, remains in the realm of speculation. At the same time, scientific theories about time travel do account for its possibility.

There are time travel movies that actually make sense from a scientific perspective, but they are far outnumbered by the ones that don't. This isn't to say that the latter are necessarily terrible movies — even when the time travel elements don't line up, it remains a powerful plot device that has given audiences some of the most compelling tales about the human condition. That being said, movies that get time travel right actually pave the way for audiences to better understand complex science. For audiences who want to understand the most popular trope in sci-fi a little better, it's worth looking at what movies always get wrong about time travel.

Related: 15 Awesome Time Travel Movies That Aren't Back To The Future

10 The Separation Of Space & Time

Time travel movies don't always account for the relationship between time and space. However, most scientists agree with Albert Einstein's special theory of relativity, one of the core principles of which is that spacetime exists as an inseparable variable. This is often ignored by time travel movies. For instance, as Doc Brown's time machine in Back to the Future only has coordinates for time, Marty wouldn't have been transported to the same location where the DeLorean first worked. Instead, Marty would've ended up in the vacuum of space, as the Earth would've been in an entirely different location in the galaxy decades in the past.

9 How Time Machines Can Potentially Work

Physicists generally only take two theoretical time travel methods seriously: faster-than-light (FTL) travel and using wormholes or black holes. However, this is often disregarded by most movie time machines , the inner workings of which are typically left to the viewers' imagination. This goes back to the 1895 H.G. Wells novel The Time Machine — credited with popularizing the idea of a machine that can allow a person to willingly go back or forward through time. As seen in the 2002 sci-fi movie of the same name, Wells's device accounts neither for FTL nor the use of wormholes, which can also be said of the countless unexplained time machines in sci-fi.

8 Wormholes/Black Holes As Portals To Different Dimensions

In Interstellar, Cooper goes through a black hole and reaches a strange place where time is represented by compartmentalized rooms. Meanwhile, Event Horizon imagines how going through a wormhole can not only lead to Hell but also cause random echoes of the past. Theoretically, however, if wormholes exist — and if spacetime travel is possible through black holes — they are likely to lead to another defined point in spacetime. That said, even if the way black holes and wormholes work is one of the things movies always get wrong about time travel, the fantasy element of different dimensions does make for great cinema.

Related: Interstellar Ending & Space Travel Explained

7 Time Loops Being Scientifically Plausible

Edge of Tomorrow , Looper , 12 Monkeys , Source Code , and Groundhog Day are just some of the movies that prominently feature time loops in their plots. The sheer popularity of time loops makes this one of the most common things movies get wrong about time travel. As Stephen Hawking explains in his chronology protection conjecture theory, " The laws of physics do not allow the appearance of closed timelike curves " (via Advancing Physics ). Still, the time loop trope is more of a narrative twist on classic time travel than an actual scientific theory. They may be more implausible than time travel itself, but time loops remain effective storytelling devices.

6 Hyperdrive Not Accounting For Time Dilation

Based on theoretical warp drives, hyperdrive in the Star Wars films explains why FTL travel is possible in the galaxy. However, none of the Star Wars movies have ever accounted for how this can lead to time travel or time dilation. On one hand, as the Star Wars movies don't involve time travel, it may have been proven impossible by FTL causing no time distortions. On the other hand, Star Wars Rebels' World Between Worlds canonically confirms that time travel is possible. Moreover, as physics in Star Wars seems to work the same way as in the real world, FTL should at least cause noticeable time dilations.

5 The Existence of Tachyons

The Star Trek movies almost always link time travel events to the existence of tachyons, which in the real world are theoretical particles that only exist at FTL speeds, and are therefore potentially capable of time travel. The movie Land of the Lost also involves a " tachyon amplifier " that transports the user to a seemingly different point in space and time. While it's fun to envision the existence of such particles, tachyons come solely from the imagination of physicist and popular science author Gerald Feinberg. There have also been no experiments that were able to prove the existence of tachyons in the real world.

Related: Star Trek Confirms the Jaw-Dropping True Nature of Subspace

4 Time Travel Not Existing Yet

Technically speaking, traveling through time at unusual speeds already happens. Astronauts and satellites in orbit are already traveling through time milliseconds slower than people on Earth because they're moving at much faster speeds. Another example is how looking at stars through telescopes is technically a way of looking back in time — a result of light taking its time to travel through the vast distances between celestial bodies. Even for sci-fi movies that get time travel right, it's very rare for such basic spacetime-related science facts to be addressed, even though they could significantly help viewers understand how time travel could be possible.

3 A Time Paradox Would Destroy The Universe

From The Flash and Back to the Future to Avengers: Endgame , scientists from movies that break their own time travel rules have warned would-be time travelers of the infinite dangers of changing the spacetime continuum — at the peak of which is destroying the universe itself. Much like time loops or any other paradox involving temporal distortion, there is no real theory, even in quantum physics, that points to paradoxes causing such apocalyptic effects. Time paradoxes and their devastating effects are more creative thought experiments, not concepts supported by science.

2 FTL Travel Involving A Different Physical Plane Of Reality

Most versions of FTL travel involve a realm where time is a bit wonky — like hyperspace in Star Wars , the mycelial network in Star Trek , or the Quantum Realm in the MCU. They turn the "road" of time travel into a different physical plane of existence. However, this suggests that time travel is possible only in a different dimension with different physical rules, even though these movies seemingly have similar physics as the real world. While FTL travel can theoretically transport someone backward through spacetime, there are no theories that support how traveling FTL can somehow lead to a different reality outside the known universe.

Related: How Hyperspace Works In Star Wars

1 People Inexplicably Surviving FTL Speeds

Even critically acclaimed movies like Interstellar and Contact fail to explain how people traveling FTL — over 670,000,000 miles per hour — survive the acceleration. While time travel through FTL is theoretically possible, what's impossible is humans inexplicably surviving the g-forces caused by accelerating to FTL speeds in seconds. Modern jet planes that accelerate to over 4,000 mph in less than a minute subject fighter pilots to around 6 to 9 g-forces, and they're able to remain conscious only with the help of specialized training and suits. Scientifically, the g-forces of accelerating to FTL speeds wouldn't just cause travelers to faint or have strokes but would completely destroy their machines.

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Star Trek Prequel Movie In The Works With Star Wars Director

Toby Haynes, who directed episodes of Black Mirror, Doctor Who, and Andor, is lined up to make a Star Trek movie.

By Eddie Makuch on April 11, 2024 at 12:06PM PDT

A Star Trek prequel movie is in the works with Star Wars director Toby Haynes attached to direct, Paramount announced during CinemaCon. This has been rumored since January , and now it's confirmed. The movie is set for release sometime in 2025.

Haynes previously directed episodes of Doctor Who, Black Mirror, Sherlock, and the Star Wars series Andor. Collider reported on these details from CinemaCon.

Seth Grahame-Smith, who wrote The Lego Batman Movie, is writing the untitled Star Trek film. Haynes has never directed or written a Star Trek movie, but he directed Black Mirror's Star Trek-inspired USS Callister episode.

The film is said to be an "origin story" that will take place prior to the events of 2009's Star Trek, which took place in 2255 and was itself an origin story. This likely means it will feature a different cast. The stars of the latest series, including Chris Pine, Karl Urban, Zachary Quinto, and Zoe Saldana, have been rumored to be coming back for a fourth film in their series, but it hasn't happened yet.

2016's Star Trek Beyond is the latest entry in the main Star Trek movie series, but the franchise has lived long and prospered on streaming with the TV shows Picard and Strange New Worlds.

The 2009 Star Trek reboot and its 2013 sequel Into Darkness were directed by JJ Abrams, before he handed off directing duties to Justin Lin for Star Trek Beyond. The three movies collectively earned around $1.2 billion at the global box office.

In addition to Pine, Saldana, and Quinto, the latest Star Trek movie series featured John Cho as Sulu and Anton Yelchin as Chekov. Yelchin tragically died in 2016 at the age of 27 after a motor vehicle accident in his driveway.

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‘Star Trek’ Origin Story Movie Will Be Set Decades Before 2009 Film

CinemaCon 2024: The new project will be produced by longtime “Star Trek” steward J.J. Abrams

Paramount Pictures is ready to boldly go (again).

After rumors circulated earlier this year, Paramount officially announced a new “Star Trek” prequel film on Thursday, this time taking place decades before the original 2009 “Star Trek” feature.

“Andor” director Toby Haynes will direct from a script by Seth Grahame-Smith (who is also writing another hotly touted CinemaCon title, the third “Now You See Me” film). J.J. Abrams is returning to produce.

But then again, we’ve heard about a new “Star Trek” movie before.

During the run-up to “Star Trek Beyond” in 2016, it was revealed that a fourth film would reunite Chris Pine’s Captain Kirk with his deceased father (played, once again, by Chris Hemsworth). A year later, Quentin Tarantino approached Paramount about doing a “Star Trek” movie – this time as an R-rated gangster movie (based, in part, on the 1968 episode of the original series “A Piece of the Action”). In 2018 S.J. Clarkson, a TV vet who would eventually direct “Madame Web,” was hired to direct the fourth film in the Abrams-verse, but salary disputes led to Pine and Hemsworth leaving the project. That version was canceled in 2019 and Tarantino stated in 2020 that he wouldn’t be making his “Star Trek” either.

In November 2019 “Fargo” creator Noah Hawley was hired to write and direct a new “Star Trek” film based on his version of the series. A year later, this movie was canceled by new Paramount Pictures president Emma Watts. In 2021 “Star Trek: Discovery” writer Kalinda Vazquez was hired to write a version based on her original pitch, but a separate script was being developed by Lindsey Beer and Geneva Robertson-Dworet. The studio even set a summer 2023 release date for a new “Trek” (which “Trek” was the question).

In 2021 that release date was pushed to Christmas 2023, under the direction of “WandaVision” director Matt Shakman. Josh Friedman and Cameron Squires were brought on to retool the script. In early 2022 it was announced that the stars of the three previous “Star Trek” installments in the Abrams-verse would all be returning, although it was later reported that the actors had not entered negotiations to return.

In 2022 Shakman left “Star Trek” to join Marvel Studios’ “The Fantastic Four.” But just last month Steve Yockey was hired to write a fourth “Star Trek” movie.

Now, we are finally getting word of another film in development, with another writer/director team. But it’s not the first time that a “Star Trek” prequel script has been floated, as Erik Jendresen, cowriter of “Mission: Impossible: Dead Reckoning,” had submitted a script for “Star Trek: The Beginning” before J.J. had taken over and pitched his 2009 version. It depicted the Earth-Romulan War.

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A Star Trek origin story movie is officially on the way from Andor and Black Mirror director

It's set to take place decades before 2009's Star Trek

Paramount has officially announced a new Star Trek movie – but it's not Star Trek 4.

The Untitled Star Trek Origin Story was unveiled at CinemaCon, with J.J. Abrams set to produce (H/T The Wrap ). The film will take place decades before 2009's Star Trek, with Andor's Toby Haynes set to direct and Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter author Seth Grahame-Smith set to pen the script. Plot details have yet to be released. Deadline first announced the film earlier this year.

Haynes directed the popular Black Mirror episode U.S.S Callister, which acts as a Star Trek parody. Black Mirror season 7 will feature a sequel to U.S.S Callister , though it has not yet been announced who will direct.

Paramount also stated that the origin pic would begin production later this year to make it in time for a 2025 theatrical release. Star Trek 4, the sequel to Abrams' 2009 flick, is still in development. WandaVision's Matt Shakman was previously attached to direct, but  left the project  in August 2022  around the same time he was announced as the new Fantastic Four director. Last month, Variety reported that Sucker Punch and Supernatural writer Steve Yockey would pen the fourth Star Trek film, which intends to bring back Chris Pine, Zachary Quinto, and the rest of the cast.

The Untitled Star Trek Origin Story does not yet have a release date. For more, check out our list of the most exciting upcoming movies in 2024 and beyond, or, skip right to the good stuff with our list of movie release dates .

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Lauren Milici is a Senior Entertainment Writer for GamesRadar+ currently based in the Midwest. She previously reported on breaking news for The Independent's Indy100 and created TV and film listicles for Ranker. Her work has been published in Fandom, Nerdist, Paste Magazine, Vulture, PopSugar, Fangoria, and more.

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