A-Wings Return for Star Wars: Episode VIII

Thanks to a visit from the Royal Family to Pinewood Studios in London, we now have confirmation that a fan-favorite star-fighter is making a return in Star Wars: Episode VIII…

As we recently reported, Princes William and Harry visited the set of Star Wars: Episode VIII at Pinewood Studios in London, and in doing so — thanks to some Twitter users who apparently didn’t have to sign a NDA — we have our first looks at the comeback of the A-Wing, which will be returning in the sequel to The Force Awakens.

The first one comes courtesy of Twitter user Ali Arikan and shows Luke Skywalker himself — Mark Hamill — conversing with Prince Harry.

Next we have Nick LaBate‘s photo of Prince Harry hugging Chewbacca (don’t know if that was Peter Mayhew or Joonas Suotamo, his stand-in for and probable new Chewie once Mayhew passes the torch). Also notice Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy in the photo.

Finally, we have the young stars of the new trilogy — Daisy Ridley and John Boyega. The A-Wing is in the background. Via: Nick LaBate

According to Screen Rant, these are a new model of A-Wing:

"“Just like the Incom-FreiTek T-70 X-wing starfighter was a newer variant of the original Star Wars trilogy T-65 starfighters, so to is this A-Wing a new model of its predecessors. Notice the roundness of the main hull, and the coloring of lower part of the vertical wings, as well as the cannons on each side. It’s slightly different but pleasantly similar.”"

We’ve seen the A-Wings heavily used in Season 2 of Star Wars Rebels, which would make one think that Rogue One might have the fastest fighter in the Rebellion featured at some point, in the film.

Another nice touch and callback to the A-Wings being in Star Wars: Episode VIII, is that Poe Dameron’s mother — Shara Bey — was an A-Wing pilot, and used to put Poe in her lap while should would pilot the ship on patrol. It would be very cool to see Poe climb aboard an A-Wing with a Shara Bey call sign tattooed on the side.