New Chewbacca Joonas Suotamo Releases Heartfelt Letter to Fans

With former Chewbacca Peter Mayhew growing older and Disney moving forward with more and more Star Wars films, actor Joonas Suotamo has recently received the full time mantle of playing the Wookiee on screen. i09 writes the actor, both ecstatic and grateful, took to Twitter to share the news with fans of Star Wars:

I'm ecstatic. It's official. And here is my statement to this terrific piece of news https://t.co/a1DPsNDb2P pic.twitter.com/r4EUZ2r17V

— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) February 21, 2017

In case Twitter is blocked, or you can't read the text without leaving the site, here it is in full:

Mayhew, who not too long ago had knee surgery, is now physically disabled and shared the role with Suotamo during Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now, with work on the Han Solo film underway, Suotamo has officially gotten the title. I like that Joonas took the time to acknowledge Mayhew as well as fans in light of his great news. It shows a tremendous amount of respect to all parties and shows me the role is in the right hands.