With J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: Episode VII currently filming, casting announcements are beginning to emerge. Today, THR has announced that Peter Mayhew will be reprising the role of everyone’s favorite wookie sidekick, Chewbacca.
Chewbacca is the second original character to officially join the long-anticipated sequel, the first of which was R2-D2. As exciting as it is to hear that they’ll be on the big screen again, I can’t help but feel a bit disappointed that we still don’t have any word on which human characters will be showing up when the film hits theaters on December 18th, 2015. That being said, Chewie’s involvement does give weight to the assumption that the original trilogy’s trio of stars will be returning. After all, you can’t have Chewbacca without Han (the character’s Revenge of the Sith cameo notwithstanding).
As a long time Star Wars fan, it’s nice to hear that Mayhew will be back as Chewbacca, and that the wookie won’t be recreated with CGI, motion capture, or some combination of the two. Mayhew also has the upper hand when it comes to showing his wrinkles on screen, because the full-body wookie suit will hide any signs of aging that Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill will have to display in glorious IMAX 3D.
So, now that Mayhew has joined Star Wars: Episode VII, who do you think will be next? My money is on Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, what about you?
