Star Wars Bits: The 40th Anniversary Of ‘Star Wars,’ The New Chewbacca Actor, And The Larger Role Of Thrawn
In this edition of Star Wars Bits:
I’ll never forgive Paramount and CBS for not taking full advantage ofStar Trek’s 50th anniversary, but it looks like Disney and Lucasfilm won’t be making the same mistake withStar Wars' 40th anniversary. This year’s Star Wars Celebration will kick off with a special panel dedicated to this milestone andStarWars.comhas provided the details:
TheStar Wars40th anniversary panel, hosted by Warwick Davis and set for Thursday, April 13, will feature Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and discussions with some of the saga’s brightest stars. It promises to highlight the impact of the galaxy far, far away and the fandom that has propelled it for the last four decades; this marquee Celebration event will undoubtedly include many not-to-be-missed surprises. So set hyperspace coordinates accordingly…
Nope,#StarWars#EpisodeIXdoesn’t start filming this summer. The casting site spreading the news has been posting false info since TFA.
— SWNN (@StarWarsNewsNet)July 06, 2025
Star Wars: The Last Jediisn’t out until December and the untitledHan Solomovie just started filming, but could cameras begin rolling onStar Wars: Episode 9this summer? That’s the current rumor rolling over the internet. However, Star Wars News Net claims that the information is false (as seen in the tweet above), so let’s hold our horses for now.
I’m ecstatic. It’s official. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of newshttps://t.co/a1DPsNDb2Ppic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo)June 26, 2025
For the first time since 1977, Peter Mayhew will not play Chewbacca in aStar Warsmovie. Finnish basketball player-turned-actor Joonas Suotamo is taking over the role in the upcomingHan Solospin-off movie, having pulled double duty with Mayhew onThe Force AwakensandThe Last Jedi. Unfortunately, Mayhew’s health issues have made playing the mighty Wookiee a challenge. Fortunately, the 6' 10" Suotamo seems to be up for task, paying tribute to the character and to Mayhew on social media.
While we’re talking about recastingStar Warscharacters, Samuel L. Jackson told IGN that there is no need to recast Mace Windu, whom he insists could have survived his “death” inRevenge of the Sith. In fact, he says that there’s no need to digitally recreate him like Tarkin inRogue One– he’s ready and willing to return to the part. Since Jackson is looking as ageless as ever these days, why the heck not?
In Timothy Zahn’sHeir to the Empiretrilogy of novels, Grand Admiral Thrawn returns years after the defeat of the Empire to wage war on the New Republic. Those novels, beloved by fans, were stripped out of the canon a few years ago with the rest of the “legends,” but it looks like a few elements may have survived.ScreenRantnotes that Chuck Wendig’s new novelStar Wars: Aftermath – Empire’s Endmentions that Emperor Palpatine’s plan to explore the fringes of the galaxy (which you can read about here) involved the assistance of Thrawn:
…Palpatine had one in the navy who knew something of the Unknown Regions: Admiral Thrawn, an alien with ice-blue skin who came from beyond the borders of the known galaxy. Palpatine only kept that one around because of what he knew of traversing those deadly interstices. Much of what Thrawn knew went into the computations of this machine.
Between this, Thrawn playing a major role inStar Wars Rebelsand ScreenRant’s suggestion that the blue-skinned villain escaped the final battle between the Rebels and the Empire, it sounds like the cunning Grand Admiral survived the aftermath of the Galactic Civil War and may have a role to play.
For moreEmpire’s Endnews, you can look toStarWars.com’s interviewwith author Chuck Wendig, who discusses everything from the importance of Jakku to Han and Leia’s relationship.
Wullf Yularen, who began as a background character in the originalStar Warsand was slowly fleshed out over the years (including as a supporting character onStar Wars: The Clone Wars) is set to appear onStar Wars Rebels, where he look much like he did in the 1977 film. You can see him in the new clip above. Of course, we all know where he ends up: blown to pieces in the destruction of the first Death Star.
