‘Star Wars Episode VIII’ News: Jabba The Hutt To Return?

Star Wars: The Force Awakens saw numerous members of the original posse return, with Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, and Carrie Fisher’s Leia Organa all featuring in prominent roles.

Obviously, not every single legendary character from Star Wars’ illustrious past could return in The Force Awakens. But that doesn’t mean that they won’t feature in either Episode VIII or Episode XI, which will be released in the next few years.

In fact, it’s now been teased that Jabba The Hutt, the hugely powerful crime boss from Tatooine who is in pursuit of Han Solo and even put a bounty out on the smuggler, will return in the hugely anticipated sequel.

Neal Scanlan and Christopher Corbould, who were part of the visual effects team that worked on Star Wars: The Force Awakens and will continue their work in this capacity over the next few instalments, made this revelation during their speech at the British Academy Of Film and Television Arts Los Angeles awards season Tea Party at the Four Seasons Hotel in Beverly Hills on Saturday afternoon.

While talking about the secrecy that surrounds working on the Star Wars films, Neal Scanlan accidentally revealed that discussions were held over having Jabba The Hutt return, which immediately led to rumors that he might feature once again, maybe even in Star Wars 8.

“There is a huge amount of secrecy around all of the films and we never really know exactly what the characters are until way way down the line,” Neal, who has previously won Academy Awards for his skills as an animatronic expert, admitted at the event, via the Daily Mail, before he made the rather huge tease about Jabba The Hutt.

“We have hear rumors of all different characters coming back and I had heard Jabba The Hutt,” Scanlan declared. “But to be honest I cannot confirm that one way or the other. It is certainly not on the cards quite yet.”

Those of you that have seen Star Wars: Return Of The Jedi will know that there is one slight problem with Jabba The Hutt’s possible return in Star Wars: Episode VIII. There are SPOILERS ahead, so if you haven’t seen the 32-year-old Return Of The Jedi, then don’t read ahead.

Are they gone? Good; because at the end of Return Of The Jedi Princess Leia, who earlier in the film had been captured and enslaved by the villain, strangles Jabba The Hutt to death, after Luke Skywalker defeats Jabba’s guards.

That means that it would be rather hard for Jabba The Hutt to return in Star Wars 8, which is set after Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which itself is set 30 years after Return Of The Jedi.

However, there is one Star Wars film that Jabba The Hutt could return in. Rogue One is due to be released in December, 2016, which will be set in between 2005’s Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith and 1977’s Star Wars: A New Hope.

That means that Jabba The Hutt could easily be featured in the film. It’s also more likely that the beloved character will star in the proposed Han Solo spin-off film, which is due out on May 25, 2018, which will center around a young Han Solo film.

When we are first introduced to Han Solo in Star Wars: A New Hope Jabba, The Hutt is in pursuit of the smuggler over a debt that he is owed. This then leads Han Solo to be handed over to Jabba The Hutt in Empire Strikes Back after bounty hunter Bobba Fett captures Solo, before Luke, Leia, Han, Lando, Chewbacca, C-3PO, and R2-D2 defeat Jabba and his cronies at the Great Pitt Of Carkoon in Return Of The Jedi.

[Image via Lucasfilm]