Disneyland has a ‘Star Wars’ easter egg from a movie that never got made

Figuring out all the obscure references to random deep-cut Star Wars nerd stuff at Disneyland's new Galaxy's Edge attraction is a fool's errand. But, there is one deep-cut Easter egg that even the most devoted Star Wars fan would be confused about; and that's because its a reference to a Star Wars film that was never made. Before Episode IX was called The Rise of Skywalker and directed by J.J. Abrams, that film was originally going to be directed by Jurassic World director Colin Trevorrow. And, one very obvious thing from Trevorrow's unmade Episode IX is on full-display at Galaxy's Edge, hiding in plain sight.

On June 13, 2019, Collider published an exclusive interview with Trevorrow in which he revealed that the imposing and dangerous-looking spaceship — the First Order Tie Echelon — was in fact created for his version of Episode IX; and therefore was to be featured at Galaxy's Edge.

First Order Tie Echelon at Disneyland.

(Disney)

"It was just a natural part of the process," Trevorrow told Collider. "The Imagineering team asked us to develop a new ship for the park while we were designing the film. I took it pretty seriously — it's not every day you get to be a part of something like that." Trevorrow also said that he could absolutely not reveal what aspect of his canceled-Episode IX the Tie Echelon would have been a part of, but did say that " It was part of an upgraded First Order fleet. An armed troop transport — the equivalent of a Blackhawk stealth helicopter. We wanted it to evoke memories of earlier ships while still being its own thing."

A UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter.

(DoD photo by Gertrud Zach, U.S. Army)

As of this writing, it seems like the Tie Echelon will not be in Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Back in 2017, a few months before the release of The Last Jedi, Trevorrow was seemingly fired by Disney from the movie, though the official announcement claimed: "Lucasfilm and Colin Trevorrow have mutually chosen to part ways on Episode IX."

Presumably, nothing from Trevorrow's script or design — including this ship — will be used in The Rise of Skywalker. Meaning, the only place this ship exists is the Star Wars canon is in Galaxy's Edge at Disneyland.

This article originally appeared on Fatherly. Follow @FatherlyHQ on Twitter.