Key dates in Star Wars: May

May

1 May

Heir to the Empire paperback published (1991)
Today in 1992, the first part of the original Thrawn Trilogy was released in paperback. Written by Timothy Zahn, 'Heir to the Empire' unleashed a new era of Star Wars stories. It was set 5 years after Episode VI & introduced Grand Admiral Thrawn.

2 May

David Ankrum is born (1947)
Today in 1947, in Santa Clara County, California, USA, David Ankrum was born. Dave was the voice actor for Wedge Antilles in A New Hope and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. He overdubbed both Denis Lawson and Colin Higgins throughout the film.

3 May

Bloodline published (2016)
Today in 2016, the canon novel 'Bloodline' by Claudia Gray was published in hardback/eBook. Set as a run-up to The Force Awakens, the story follows Leia, now Senator in the New Republic, as she recognises a new threat looming in the galactic rim.

4 May

Unofficial 'Star Wars Day'
Many fans refer to today as Star Wars Day, based upon the similarity of 'May the 4th' to 'May the Force'. The phrase is perhaps British in origin following Margaret Thatcher's election as Prime Minister in 1979 - an ad was run declaring 'May the Fourth be with you, Maggie. Congratulations'.

5 May

Richard E Grant is born (1957)
Today in 1957, in Mbabane, Eswatini, Richard E. Grant was born. Richard is a actor / director / screenwriter & has had many prominent movie roles during his career. In 2019 he portrayed Allegiant General Enric Pryde in The Rise of Skywalker.

6 May

Lars Mikkelsen is born (1964)
Today in 1964. in Gladsaxe, Denmark, Lars Mikkelsen was born. Lars is an accomplished actor appearing in (amongst other shows / films) House of Cards and as Charles Magnussen in Sherlock. From season 3 of Rebels Lars portrayed Grand Admiral Thrawn.

7 May

Angel Unzueta is born (1969)
On this day in 1969, in Ordizia, Spain, Angel Unzueta was born. The comic book artist is one of the primary artists for Marvel Comics' Poe Dameron series. After providing art for issue 7, Angel has drawn every numbered issue from 14.

8 May

Age of Rebellion: Boba Fett 1 released (2019)
Today in 2019, the Marvel canon comic book 'Age of Rebellion - Boba Fett 1', the fifth one-shot issue of the anthology series, was released. It was written by Greg Pak and illustrated by Marc Laming, and features the story "Hunter's Heart".

9 May

Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation 1 published (2018)
On this day in 2018, the first issue of the six-part Marvel comic book miniseries, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation, was published. The comic was written by Gary Whitta (who was also a writer on the movie Rogue One), with art by Micheal Walsh.

10 May

Episode I Incredible Cross Sections released (1999)
Today in 1999, Episode I Incredible Cross Sections was published by Dorling Kindersley. Written by David West Reynolds and illustrated by Hans Jenssen & Richard Chasemore, it has cross-sections & illustrations of starships/vehicles from The Phantom Menace.

11 May

Terence McGovern is born (1947)
In Berkeley, California, USA, today in 1942, Terry McGovern was born. The actor / voice actor / television broadcaster / radio personality / acting instructor spoke the famous phrase "These aren't the droids we are looking for" repeating Alec Guinness.

12 May

Domhnall Gleeson is born (1983)
Domhnall Gleeson was born today in 1987 in Dublin, Ireland. From graduating with a BA in Media Arts Domhnall has pursued a career on stage / screen (acting / directing / writing). He played First Order General Armitage Hux in Episodes VII, VII and IX.

13 May

Joe Johnson is born (1950)
Today in 1950, in Austin, Texas, USA, Joe Johnson was born. Initially an artist and later promoted to a head storyboard position at Lucasfilm, Joe designed Boba Fett's armor working with Ralph McQuarrie based upon early concepts of Darth Vader.

14 May

George Lucas is born (1944)
Today in 1944, in Modesto, California, USA, George Lucas was born. The 4-time Academy Award–nominated film & TV writer, director, and producer is the reason for our team and friendship, without him there would be no Star Wars - 'thank the maker'.

15 May

Mel Zwyer is born (1977)
Today in 1977, in California, USA, Melchior (Mel) Zwyer was born. He is a writer, producer, director, and artist who has worked on Young Justice, The Legend of Korra, and How to Train Your Dragon. He directed five episodes of Star Wars Rebels.

16 May

UK and US release of Attack of the Clones (2002)
Today in 2002, in both the US and UK, Attack of the Clones was released in cinemas. 10 years have passed since The Phantom Menace and Anakin is now a Padawan not far from taking his trials to become a Jedi Knight, but dissent and war is looming.

Other events on this day...
Tiya Sircar is born (1982)

17 May

Darth Vader vs. Hoth Rebels - Crushing the Rebellion released (2019)
Today in 2019 'Darth Vader vs. Hoth Rebels - Crushing the Rebellion' aired on StarWarsKids.com website and YouTube. It tells the story of the Empire's invasion of Hoth and is the twenty-eighth episode of Star Wars Galaxy of Adventures.

18 May

Star Wars: Blood Ties—A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett published (2011)
Today in 2011 Star Wars: Blood Ties—A Tale of Jango and Boba Fett was published. This trade paperback, published by Dark Horse Books collected the Star Wars: Blood Ties: 4 comic mini-series of comics into a single volume.

19 May

US release of The Phantom Menace (1999)
On this day, after a hiatus of sixteen years Star Wars is back at the cinema with The Phantom Menace in 1999. This is the beginning of the Prequel trilogy and tells the story of Anakin's rise to become a Jedi and subsequent fall to become a Sith.

Other events on this day...
US release of Revenge of the Sith (2005)
UK release of Revenge of the Sith (2005)
Peter Mayhew born (1944)

20 May

UK release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
In the UK, cinemas opened to The Empire Strikes Back on this day in 1980. Following the unprecedented success of Star Wars in 1977, George Lucas returns to a galaxy a long time ago and far, far away, introducing new locations and characters.

21 May

US release of The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
On this day, a day after the UK, the US got their release of The Empire Strikes Back in 1980. The movie saw the return of the rebel heroes in their battle to overcome the evil Empire. For many this is the greatest of the Star Wars movies.

22 May

Carlos Garzón born (1945)
Today in 1945 Carlos Garzón was born. Carlos is a comic book illustrator & produced a number of comics in the Marvel Star Wars series. He assisted Al Williamson on his Star Wars comic adaptations of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi

23 May

Robert Watts born (1938)
On this day in 1938 Robert Watts was born. Robert was a production manager on A New Hope, an associate producer on The Empire Strikes Back, and a co-producer on Return of the Jedi. He also played Lieutenant Watts in Return of the Jedi.

24 May

Original release date (now delayed) of The Rise of Skywalker (2019)
This was the day in 2019 when The Rise of Skywalker was due to be released, before being pushed back to December. The scale of the set was so big that Kevin Smith claimed it was the biggest he had seen in his life.

Other events on this day...
Carmine Infantino Born (1925)

25 May

US release of 'Star Wars' (1977)
On this day in 1977 we were introduced to the greatest story ever. Star Wars (later to be re-titled A New Hope) opens in the US to record ticket sales despite fewer than forty US cinemas initially agreeing to show it, until Fox threatened them!

Other events on this day...
US release of Return of the Jedi (1983)
US release of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
UK release of Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018)
Frank Oz born (1944)

26 May

Peter Cushing born (1913)
In 1913 the formidable actor Peter Cushing is born this day in Kenley, Surrey. Whilst Peter is credited with 86 appearances in TV and film from 1939 until 1997, he will forever be known as Grand Moff Wilhuff Tarkin to Star Wars fans.

27 May

Christopher Lee born (1922)
Sir Christopher Lee was born this day in 1922 in Belgravia, London. With a career spanning nearly 70 years, Lee was well known for portraying villains and in 2002 and 2005 played the evil Count Dooku in the Prequel Trilogy.

Other events on this day...
Paul Bettany Born (1971)

28 May

Alan Harris born (1938)
Alan Harris, Bossk from The Empire Strikes Back, was born this day in Enfield, London in 1938. Alan played a plethora of roles in the Original Trilogy & Episode 1, including stormtroopers, Bossk, a Rebel mechanic & doubling for Anthony Daniels as C-3PO.

29 May

Sebastian Shaw born (1905)
In 1905, in Holt, Norfolk, Sebastian Shaw is born this day. A veteran actor, Shaw played the unmasked Vader & Force Ghost Anakin Skywalker in Return of the Jedi, the latter part being replaced by Hayden Christensen in the 2004 re-release.

30 May

Knights of the Old Republic video game released on iPad (2013)
10 years after the game was originally released on Xbox & PC, Knights of the Old Republic was ported to Mac OS X, iOS & Android by Aspyr, released this day in 2013.

31 May

Galaxy's Edge opens in Disneyland (2019)
Today is the grand opening of Galaxy's Edge in Disneyland, set in an outpost on the planet Batuu. The events portrayed there take place between the films The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker.