Peter Mayhew Returns As Chewbacca For 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

Star Wars: Episode IV - A New HopeWe may be headed to a galaxy far, far away, but the characters are looking very much the same. With production already started on "Star Wars: Episode 7," Disney exec Alan Horn admitted that casting was still being solidified. Well, here’s another puzzle piece put into place.

THR reports that the sixty-nine year-old Peter Mayhew will return as Chewbacca. Sigh. While Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher aren’t officially official just yet, this pretty much guarantees it. You can’t have Chewbacca in here without Han Solo, and you can’t have Han without… well, you get the idea. Anyway, we’re still not yet any closer to learning if rumored folks like John Boyega, Ed Speelers, Matthew James Thomas, Ray Fisher, Jesse Plemons and Lupita Nyong’o will join Adam Driver‘s villain of the picture. But of course, this being a J.J. Abrams joint, secrecy is paramount, so just keep guessing.

"Star Wars: Episode 7 — The Characters You Love, Again!" arrives on December 18, 2015.