Star Wars Day: Twitter unites to celebrate 4 May, honour Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew

Thanks to the catchphrase ‘May the fourth be with you’, 4 May is now celebrated as Star Wars Day all over the world. It’s a day for all fans of the Jedi, the Resistance, the Skywalkers, the Hutts, Gamorrean guards, Maz Kanata, General Grievous, and Snap Wexley to unite and celebrate all there is in the galaxy far, far away.

Though the idea of May the 4th did not start with Lucasfilm, the event has escalated ever since Disney purchased Lucasfilm and the Star Wars movie franchise in 2012. 4 May has been a major platform for Star Wars merchandise sales and fan events, with states like California enshrining May 4 as an official Star Wars Day holiday, reports Newsweek .

The date is a pun on the catchphrase “May the Force be with you” as “May the Fourth be with you.”

#MayThe4thBeWithYou — always. pic.twitter.com/9HXyQyMXs6

— Nathan Wall (@Home) (@_Nathan_W_) May 3, 2019

This year, Star Wars fans will certainly be in a nostalgic mood because of Peter Mayhew’s death early this week. Twitter is celebrating the holiday be revisiting Chewbacca’s role in the original trilogy and his famous friendship with Han Solo (Harrison Ford).

Welcome Home, Chewie.
#MayThe4thBeWithYou #PeterMayhewRIP pic.twitter.com/zE34k33NAZ

— Leo Jai (@lionheartleojai) May 3, 2019

What started as a pun is now an important Star Wars event, with Twitterati celebrating it as a full-fledged holiday. Take a look:

Defend This, We Will.
May the 4th be with you on #StarWarsDay!

Video by Elliot Valdez pic.twitter.com/qxZJfi2663

— U.S. Army (@USArmy) May 4, 2019

Happy star wars day, may the 4th be with you!

And oh please keep inventing cool lightsabers because we need it @starwars pic.twitter.com/vBD07Di4Yt

— quinni (@quinnsdecim) May 4, 2019

Star Wars Day!!! May the Fourth be with you! pic.twitter.com/spIxlSmQPQ

— Roz the Tort! (That Kind of Tort) 🇵🇭☕️ (@zenbasswitch) May 4, 2019

According to popular legend, the reference was first used on 4 May, 1979, the day Margaret Thatcher took office as Prime Minister of United Kingdom. To celebrate, the Tories took out a newspaper ad in The London Evening News, which declared, “May The Fourth Be With You, Maggie. Congratulations.”

The upcoming release of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker on 20 December will close the nine-episode Skywalker saga and features Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, Billie Lourd, Richard R Grant (of Logan), British actress Naomi Ackie.