Add another classic Star Wars character to Marvel's comic book line-up: Chewbacca is getting his own spin-off series, joining other original trilogy characters like Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Land Calrissian.
Unlike those other iconic characters, however, you may recall that Chewbacca doesn't actually speak. Throughout the entirety of the film's, Chewy only lets out grunts and groans that are then interpreted by his friends, usually his longtime pal Han Solo.
The new Chewbacca comic coming from Deadpool writer Gerry Duggan and Black Widow artist Phil Noto won't change that. Speaking with MTV News, Duggan elaborates on the challenges of writing a character who doesn't speak the same language as the rest of the galaxy.
"Chewy is on a very important mission when we first meet him, and you'll be able to tell that right away without hearing him speak," Duggan says. "But script wise, what's been very fun for me, I've been writing each roar and yell twice. Once for the letterer, to be printed exactly as it is on the page and then once in parentheses for the team that basically is Chewy's whine in English.
"And that's just for internal use. That's just so that everyone can be on the same page and know that, hey, we're telling this story visually and anything that we do need to know... He's got a friend on this planet, a young woman and she speaks the basic language - so we won't be in the dark."
Marvel is of course no stranger to extremely tall companion characters. Groot of Guardians of the Galaxy fame now has his own comic, one where he only utters the words "I am Groot." Writing for Chewy should at least be a little more manageable than bringing a talking tree to life. Duggan says he imagines Chewbacca as a "warrior soul."
"He's maybe a former Ronin that has a new master in Han," Duggan says. "But he's doing this for the greater good. He's set aside his own ambitions to join the fight. And the best thing about Chewbacca is that he is a character that gets you out of trouble in "Star Wars," and not into trouble in "Star Wars.""
That means he will be throwing himself in with a local group of rebels after being stranded on a remote planet, with no Han Solo in sight. It's not often we get to see Chewbacca without Han at his side, so it should prove to be an interesting deep-dive into what makes this character work when he is on his own. Chewbacca #1 is coming this October. You can read our review for the first issue of the Lando Calrissian mini-series here.
Be sure to follow T-Lounge on Twitter and visit our Facebook page
