Star Wars fans got a very special May the Fourth present yesterday: The first glimpse at what one of the most iconic characters in Episode VII will look like. Bob Iger, Chairman of Disney, posted a Chewbacca selfie on the Star Wars Instagram account yesterday, and fans have been lapping it up like a Sarlacc eats a bounty hunter.
The photo was likely taken in Pinewood Studios outside of London, where the new trilogy’s principal filming is taking place. However, what hasn’t been confirmed is who is inside the Chewie suit, with many insisting that is has to be Peter Mayhew. The veteran actor has already been revealed to be reprising his eponymous role in the cast unveiling last week. However, he has been quiet for the last few days, at least on Twitter, and with his recent double knee replacement, it is unclear exactly if he is playing and voicing Chewie, or simply the latter.
Whatever the case, hopefully this starts a new trend of #EpisodeVIISelfies, with all the other members of the cast, because December 2015 really couldn’t come any faster.
Update: Matt Martin, Manager of Digital Content and Community Relations at LucasFilm, has confirmed on Twitter that a tweet from the official U.K. Star Wars account claiming that the selfie shows the official Chewbacca was suit was actually “speculation.”
@farfarawayradio @MakingStarWars Ugh. Speculation.
— Matt Martin (@missingwords) May 5, 2014
Screenshot via nasdaf / YouTube