It was recently revealed that preliminary filming on Star Wars: Episode VII is already underway, with most of the cast already set.  Director J.J. Abrams is known for keeping an extremely tight lid on his projects, and indeed Disney has officially announced/confirmed nearly nothing about the project, even though principal photography is only weeks away.  The one confirmed cast member we do have is R2D2, and now it looks like another familiar face will officially be returning as well: Chewbacca.  Could that mean an official announcement of Chewie’s close pal Han Solo is not far behind?  Hit the jump for more.

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Image via Lucasfilm

Per Heat Vision, Peter Mayhew will be reprising his role as Chewbacca in Episode VII, though further details about the character return are unknown.  Though there has been no confirmation yet, Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher are said to be reprising their roles as Han, Luke, and Leia as well, so Chewbacca would fit into the “old guard” set of characters that will be joined by three new young leads.

Again, confirmed information regarding Episode VII is basically non-existent at this point, but THR seems confident that Chewbacca will be returning and the casting makes sense—Episode VII takes place 30 years after Return of the Jedi and there has to be some way to bridge the gap between the initial trilogy and this new set of films.  The other solid piece of casting we have thus far is Adam Driver (Girls) onboard to play an undisclosed villain, which was also reported by THR.

With filming poised to begin in earnest next month, May 4th feels like the perfect opportunity to, once and for all, unveil the full official cast list.  Fingers crossed.  Star Wars: Episode VII opens December 18, 2015.

To catch up on all of our Star Wars coverage thus far, click here. Peruse the recent links below.

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