If you have kept up with the marketing for Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi, then you likely already know about the adorable new alien species called porgs. The tiny, puffin-inspired creatures have become a major hit with Star Wars fans all over the world, but one specific porg becomes a literal hit with Chewbacca in the film when the massive wookie delivers a firm slap to it in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. Now Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo (Peter Mayhew's replacement in the role) has finally addressed the moment from the recent trailer and admitted that he now feels bad about it. Suotamo said:
I definitely felt bad about pushing the porg aside so violently like I did.
This confession comes after a flood of tweets from people who felt shocked and upset to see Chewbacca slap such a cute creature. Although the whole situation has generally been treated with a sense of lightheartedness (I don't think anyone is genuinely upset about the slap), Suotamo does admit that he feels a certain twinge of regret over hitting the cute alien.
That said, Chewbacca has definitely established a precedent for this type of behavior. Joonas Suotamo continued his chat with USA Today and explained that Chewie has a natural defensiveness that takes time to get passed. The actor revealed:
...Like any relationship, it needs some work, and Chewie doesn't warm up very fast to anything. He'll need some encouragement. I think the porgs need to initiate the friendliness.
He has a point there, even during the events of A New Hope Chewbacca seemed reasonably standoffish to characters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Obi-Wan Kenobi (Sir Alec Guinness) before they earned his trust. Moreover, Chewie was also clearly annoyed by the Ewoks who joined him in the cockpit of the hijacked chicken walker during the Battle of Endor in Return of the Jedi. Porgs seem to have a natural ability to get in Chewbacca's way, while he's trying to make a swift getaway in the Falcon. So some classic Wookie annoyance is to be expected.
Check out the clip of Chewbacca smacking the porg below to see how the rocky start to this relationship.
All things considered, it's hard to blame Chewbacca for having so little patience with that pint-sized alien creature. Star Wars: The Last Jedi takes place only a short time after the events of The Force Awakens, which means Chewie is likely still reeling from the death of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) at the hands of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) on Starkiller Base. With the demise of his best friend still fresh in his mind, you can't fault the guy for getting annoyed by a porg.
Chewbacca will slap that adorable little porg silly when Star Wars: The Last Jedi debuts in theaters later this month on December 15. Make sure to get your tickets for the long-awaited second installment in the current trilogy of Star Wars movies, and give us your thoughts on porgs in the comments below.
