Unlike Rogue One and Ron Howard’s in-development Han Solo movie, this year’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi is poised to carve open a whole new corner of Lucasfilm’s far-flung galaxy, which lends Rian Johnson and his team plenty of creative freedom to execute their vision.
And for a franchise that is often celebrated for its fantastical worlds and wacky, yet oddly loveable aliens – from Admiral Ackbar to the iconic hunk of junk known as R2-D2, Star Wars is practically in a league of its own when it comes to creating compelling extra-terrestrials – that can only mean one thing: The Last Jedi is set to introduce a horde of fresh critters come December.
Among them are the porgs, delightfully cute creatures native to the primordial isle of Ahco-To. Pitched as an amalgamation of a puffin and a pint-sized penguin, those porgs are about to flood high-street retailers in two weeks’ time thanks to the advent of Force Friday. Not only that, but with their round, saucer-like eyes and innocent expressions, we wouldn’t be too surprised if the sequel’s fuzzy avians reached the same level of fame as the Ewoks once Star Wars: The Last Jedi is out in the wild.
But until that day arrives, Reddit (via Star Wars News Net) has uncovered the next best thing: an all-too-brief description of the porgs that’s been plucked from The Last Jedi‘s merchandise line. It’s not terribly revealing, but it does paint these critters as “inquisitive creatures,” which ought to lead to some light-hearted exchanges with Chewbacca and Artoo.
Small, flat-muzzled avians that flock about the rocks and roost in the cliffs [of] Luke Skywalker’s secluded island, porgs are inquisitive creatures.
Of course, Ahch-To’s wildlife doesn’t begin and end at the porgs; there’s also the Caretakers to consider, an ancient alien species of “fish-bird” beings. They’re all female, too, which goes some ways to explaining why Rian Johnson has likened them to devout Nuns.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters on December 15th.
