Porgs weren’t always the Internet’s favorite Star Wars character; before The Last Jedi began to take shape under the astute eye of Rian Johnson, that title belonged to BB-8, Poe Dameron’s cutesy spherical droid that was left in the company of the Resistance as Rey and the gang made tracks for Ahch-To.
Fast forward to The Last Jedi, and it seems a big part of BB-8’s arc will involve going undercover (with Finn, perhaps?), as the war between the First Order and the Resistance begins to escalate. After all, both sides suffered huge casualties coming out of The Force Awakens, after Starkiller Base wiped out much of the Republic, only for the First Order’s planet-sized WMD to implode soon after a fleet of X-Wings executed the ol’ ‘trench run’ ploy.
Exactly when BB-8 will infiltrate the First Order’s HQ is up for debate, but while outlining The Last Jedi‘s alien critters to Empire Magazine, special effects wizard Neal Scanlan detailed the scene in which Poe’s loveable droid comes into contact with his evil First Order doppelgänger, BB-9E:
There was this one scene in particular where BB-8 is in disguise and has to try and make his way without being recognised. It just seemed so threatening that his doppelgänger would be the very one that may or may not discover him.
From BB-8 to the inquisitive porgs, the caretakers to Crait’s shimmering crystal foxes, Star Wars: The Last Jedi is packed to the rafters when it comes to weird and wonderful aliens (and droids!), and that’s before we even consider the “rich assholes” populating Canto Bight, an opulent casino city that’s said to be the Star Wars equivalent of Las Vegas. Now how’s that for a mental picture?
Further details on BB-8 going undercover weren’t disclosed at the time of writing, but we can only hope that said scene is as light-hearted and fun as it sounds.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi is booked in for December 15th.
