Chewbacca Actor Joonas Suotamo Cast As Wookiee Jedi In “Star Wars: The Acolyte”

Joonas Suotamo is set to don some wookiee fur once again, but this time not as Chewbacca, instead becoming a Jedi in the Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Acolyte.

What’s Happening:

  • Revealed earlier this morning at Star Wars Celebration in London, Joonas Suotamo was announced as another member of the cast of the upcoming Disney+ series, Star Wars: The Acolyte.
  • Suotamo, who previously played Chewbacca in Solo: A Star Wars Story and the sequel trilogy, will not reprise that role but will instead play a different Wookiee – a Jedi named Kel Naka.

  • Described as a mystery thriller, Star Wars: The Acolyte is set about 50 years prior to Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace, during the final days of the High Republic era, a time rife with shadowy secrets and emerging dark-side powers. A former Padawan reunites with her Jedi Master to investigate a series of crimes, but the forces they confront are more sinister than they ever anticipated.

  • It was also confirmed that Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game) will be playing a Jedi Master, though his casting was announced back in September.
  • Back in November, a complete (save for Suotamo) cast list was announced, including Amandla Stenberg (The Hate U Give), Emmy Award-winner Lee Jung-jae (Squid Game), Manny Jacinto (Nine Perfect Strangers), Dafne Keen (His Dark Materials), Jodie Turner-Smith (Queen & Slim), Rebecca Henderson (Inventing Anna), Charlie Barnett (Russian Doll), Dean-Charles Chapman (1917), Carrie-Anne Moss (The Matrix)
  • Star Wars: The Acolyte set for a 2024 release on Disney+.
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Tony Betti
Originally from California where he studied a dying artform (hand-drawn animation), Tony has spent most of his adult life in the theme parks of Orlando. When he’s not writing for LP, he’s usually watching and studying something animated or arguing about “the good ole’ days” at the parks.