Peter Mayhew Teases Big News For 'Star Wars' Fans

It's going to be a long time until The Force Awakens comes out on Blu-Ray (and even longer until Episode VIII hits theaters), but it looks like we're getting a little Star Wars treat in the meantime. Chewbacca himself, Peter Mayhew, is going to be tweeting the original Star Wars script. That is, the bones of what would eventually become A New Hope. "Starting today I'll post a few pages from my original @StarWars script each day leading up to a big announcement," he posted on Twitter, followed by pages of the smudged and bound copy of The Adventures of Luke Starkiller As Taken from the "Journal of the Whills" (oof what a name). And, while seeing the script is very cool, my mind is really pre-occupied with what this announcement could mean for Chewie.

Now granted, the announcement doesn't have to be Chewbacca-centric, but I get the sneaking suspicion that Mayhew has a Wookiee-centric secret up his furry sleeve. The obvious first thought is that he could be retiring from the iconic role. Though Mayhew has signed up to return for Episode VIII, the 71-year-old actor is currently dealing with knee complications, and a stunt Wookiee is being brought in to do the more physical work. Perhaps the announcement is that another actor will be brought on in Episode IX?

But then my train of thought takes a darker turn: what if Episode VIII will instead bring on the death of Chewbacca? It isn't uncommon for Star Wars to have at least one significant power player die in each installment, so maybe this time it's Chewie's turn. Although the Star Wars Expanded Universe isn't canon anymore, certain aspects of the books have since leaked into the movies. And, with a Chewbacca death in the midst of the stories, it isn't crazy to think that the walking carpet will get thrown out of the next film. My only real conflict with this theory is that, well, it would be sort of anti-climatic to announce a character death like that. Even when character deaths seem like they come from a mile away (on a long, metallic strip in front of your recently-turned-evil son), they're not so casually announced a full two years ahead of time.

So perhaps, the news is actually profoundly positive. Maybe we're getting another look at the one and only Chewbacca.

In light of the upcoming Han Solo prequel, it wouldn't be so far-fetched to announce a younger actor to take up the helm to play a younger Chewbacca. That, come to think of it, would make sense as an announcement. And, hey, if we want to take it a step further, maybe this announcement has to do with Chewbacca... the movie. Or, a step further, Chewbacca, the original Netflix mini-series. CHEWBACCA FOR EVERYONE!

Yeah, somehow the last two ideas seem pretty far-fetched, since Chewie has been routinely used small-but-potent dosages. The fact that we can't understand him always hinders him moving up to medal-receiving status.

That said, my last theory is a left-of-center one, but maybe something to consider: perhaps we'll get a book that officially translates all those garbled Wookiee growls into English. Or at long last we'll be able to understand what Chewbacca is saying thanks to a handy dandy Wookiee-to-English translator app for our smartphones. Can you imagine what zingers we've been missing out on the last 30 or so years?

Sigh. One can dream. In any case, we're plenty of pages away from finding out what Mayhew's big announcement actually is, but suffice to say I'm excited to see what's in store for Chewie.

Images: Walt Disney Motion Pictures; Giphy