Chewbacca, the Wookie has been played by Peter Mayhew since the start. It’s been 40 years since Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope and by the time we got to Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the fan-beloved Mayhew had young actor Joonas Suotamo take over some of the performance. Suotamo will take over the role completely in the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars Anthology film directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Suotamo tweeted a lovely message to Star Wars fans about his role in the film, as reported by io9.
I'm ecstatic. It's official. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of news https://t.co/a1DPsNDb2P pic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 21, 2017
The untitled Han Solo Star Wars Story will hit theaters on May 25, 2018.