The first real look at Star Wars: The Experience is here, and it comes straight from San Diego Comic-Con. The Franklin Institute and Lucasfilm unveiled official exhibit renderings and key art on July 24, giving fans their first glimpse inside the exhibition set to open in Philadelphia on February 13, 2027. We first told you about this exhibit back in July, and now we finally have art to go with it.
What Was Revealed at San Diego Comic-Con – The reveal came during a panel called “The Making of Star Wars: The Experience,” moderated by Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka Tano across multiple Star Wars animated series. She was joined by creative leads from Lucasfilm and MDSX, the design studio building the exhibition alongside the Franklin Institute and Disney Consumer Products.
Four pieces of art came out of the panel: the official key art for the exhibition, plus concept renderings of three galleries guests will walk through. Fans planning a trip to Philadelphia now have their first sense of what the inside of this exhibit will actually look like.
Each rendering points to a different section of the 18,000-square-foot exhibition.
Queen Amidala’s Throne Room puts guests inside a gallery of suspended fabric and projection, built around the voices of Star Wars costume designers. It leads up to Queen Amidala’s red Throne Room gown alongside other costumes and costume art.
Wireframe Worlds is built around a wireframe TIE fighter and puts guests inside the blueprint stage of Star Wars set design. Edge-lit acrylic panels display early vehicle sketches and design notes next to diagrams of ships from across the saga.
Carbon Freeze Capture centers on a full-scale Han Solo in carbonite, surrounded by interactive stations where guests can step through their own “carbon freeze” moment using motion and projection technology.
The Artifacts and Interactive Elements Guests Will See – Beyond the three galleries shown in the renderings, the Franklin Institute confirmed a few more pieces of the exhibition. A section called “The Force Connects Us” will use RFID technology to personalize each guest’s path through the exhibit, with hidden moments and story beats that build toward a finale unique to that visitor.
The finale itself centers on 50 years of Star Wars action figure history, with more than 90 collectible figures on display, including over 20 rare prototypes, tooling samples and design materials. Some of these pieces have never been shown to the public before.
Screen-used artifacts confirmed so far include Darth Maul’s lightsaber, Darth Vader’s costume, a speeder bike, and original props from Andor, alongside fan-favorite droids and creatures like Grogu, R2-D2 and C-3PO.
Tickets and What Comes Next – Star Wars: The Experience runs February 13 through September 6, 2027, at the Franklin Institute. Franklin Institute members get presale access starting in October, with public tickets going on sale in November. Pricing has not been announced yet.
After its Philadelphia run, the exhibition heads out on a five-year North American tour managed by Round Room Live, so this is your first chance to see it before it travels.
This isn’t the Franklin Institute’s first blockbuster exhibition built around a Disney-owned franchise. The museum previously hosted Universal Theme Parks: The Exhibition, and this new Star Wars exhibit follows that same world-premiere playbook. You can read our original coverage of the announcement in our first Star Wars: The Experience article.
More reveals are expected in the months ahead as the Franklin Institute continues rolling out details before the February opening. We’ll keep updating this story as new artifacts and gallery info come in.
For more Star Wars coverage, visit our Star Wars hub at fantasylandnews.com.
