Holy Sith, you guys, star wars day is upon us again.
“May the 4th” is a day for all lovers of Jedi, the Resistance, the Skywalkers, the Hutts, Boba Fett, Baby Yoda, Gamorrean guards, Maz Kanata, General Grievous, Rancor Keeper and Jekk Porkins (RIP) to unite and celebrate all there is in the galaxy far, far away. (Why May 4, you ask? Why, it’s right there in the date, a play on “May the Force be with you.”)
This Star Wars Day, fans will likely be in a nostalgic mood – and diving back into the prequels – prepping for the May 27 premiere of Disney+’s “Obi-Wan Kenobi” series, starring Ewan McGregor as the title Jedi master and a returning Hayden Christensen as Anakin “Darth Vader” Skywalker.
The franchise has remained beloved to generations since George Lucas’ original 1977 “starwars,” which means a lot of options for various ways to get your “May the 4th” on. Here are some of our favorites:
May the Fourth be with you:The definitive ranking of all 11 ‘Star Wars’ movies
Watch the ‘Star Wars’ movies. Or, more likely, watch them again.
If you can believe it, there are some people who’ve never seen “Star Wars.” But there’s no excuse now that all nine movies in the Skywalker saga – as well as the spinoffs “Rogue One” and “Solo: A Star Wars Story” – are a few clicks away on the Disney+ streaming service.
Longtime fans can break out the Blu-rays and DVDs, hunt for VHS cassettes, or – if you want to really go old school – dust off the laser discs. And we do suggest you watch the original 1983 edition of “Return of the Jedi,” rather than the later special edition that took out the Ewoks’ celebration song and inserted Christensen (rather than original “Jedi” star Sebastian Shaw) into the Dead Jedi Club at the end.
“Yub nub.” Never forget.
Binge on various ‘Star Wars’ shows
If you haven’t had the pleasure of seeing the completely adorable Baby Yoda (aka Grogu), now’s the time to tuck into the first two seasons of the Disney+ Western-flavored series”The Mandalorian” – starring Pedro Pascal as the armored title gunslinger – and the spinoff “Book of Boba Fett” with Temuera Morrison as the returned bounty hunter.
Disney+ also offers a ton of animated projects for kids of all ages to watch. “Star Wars: The Bad Batch” follows the elite and experimental clones of the Bad Batch spinning out of the prequel-era “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” which features Obi-Wan and Anakin before they turned into mortal enemies. Cartoon fans can also check out “Star Wars Rebels,” focusing on the Rebel Alliance just prior to the events of the ’77 film; the pilot-centric “Star Wars Resistance” set during the time of “The Force Awakens”; and “Star Wars: Visions,” an anthology featuring different anime creators and storytellers taking on aspects of the galaxy far, far away.
Let the blue milk flow
Luke Skywalker’s Uncle Owen and Aunt Beru had blue milk on their breakfast table back on Tatooine, and you can enjoy it as well with these recipes. (Seriously, who doesn’t want to try blue milk pudding?!)
StarWars.com has a whole section of food-related fun for those who want to party hearty, including Obi-Wan Kenobi cupcakes and ewok sushi. And if you need even more, the “Star Wars: Galactic Baking” cookbook is full of sweet treats to satisfy your little Jawas.
May the Fourth:What is Star Wars Day and when did it start?
Read the further adventures of Obi-Wan Kenobi and his friends
If the newest “Star Wars” trilogy hasn’t been exciting enough, the rash of recent comic books and novels – most of them pretty rad – have fleshed out stories not seen in the movies. The flagship Star Wars comics is currently filling in the time between “Empire Strikes Back” and “Return of the Jedi” as Luke comes to grips with Darth Vader being his dad. (Forty-year-old spoiler alert!) “Star Wars: Crimson Reign” is a new miniseries that focuses on Qi’ra, Emilia Clarke’s character in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” and on Wednesday, the first issue of “Star Wars: Obi Wan” drops to get ready for the upcoming Disney+ show. (Comixology has a great digital sale going on to get newer comics and older series for cheap.)
Book lovers will want to check out the “Alphabet Squadron” trilogy, which follows a group of New Republic pilots hunting a mysterious TIE Fighter group exacting revenge after the fall of the Empire (see: “Return of the Jedi”). If you want to take a trip in the wayback machine, “Star Wars: Light of the Jedi” (which you can get for only three bucks this week!) begins the epic “The High Republic” saga set 200 years before the events of the movies. And next week, Obi-Wan and Anakin fans will want to check out the new novel “Star Wars: Brotherhood” set just after the “Attack of the Clones” prequel film.
Say ‘Punch it, Chewie!’ to some kid activities
StarWars.com offers a whole slew of things for crafty moms and dads to do with their children. Make a Baby Yoda pencil pouch, a Hoth snowglobe or a Death Star piñata, and print out various coloring sheets and word searches. If your kids want some extra starpower, however, check out Daisy Ridley reading “BB-8 On the Run,” featuring her character Rey’s little droid buddy.
StarWarsKids.com is a one-stop resource for children to find out about all the characters and creatures fans love. But if you want to take their galactic learning to the next level, Outschool offers a bunch of “Star Wars”-themed virtual classes on lightsaber training, trivia challenges, drawing Baby Yoda and more.
Buy something fun and extremely nerdy
Lots of places discount their Star Wars merch on May 4, and starwars.com has a roundup of all the coolest stuff, from Han and Leia “I love you/I know” wedding bands to Baby Yoda dashboard wavers. lots of galactic video games are on sale today, and if you’ve got time on your hands (and sufficient shelf space in your house), Lego is debuting its large collectors series version of Luke Skywalker’s Landspeeder with Luke and C-3PO minifigures so you and your family can build to your heart’s delight.
As the Mando might say, this is the way.
