Star Wars: Kathleen Kennedy Confirms 'The Last Jedi' Will Have Baby Porgs

For the upcoming The Last Jedi, porgs have become the cute creature that barely receives any screentime but have inspired various products, memes and Halloween costumes, showing just how passionately Star Wars fans can latch on to even minute details of the saga. All porg fans received some good news this week, as Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy revealed that baby porgs, known as "porglets," will also appear in the new film.

"He just has such an incredibly fertile imagination," Kennedy shared of writer/director Rian Johnson to The Star Wars Show. "There's a brief little moment in The Last Jedi where there's a little porg and then there's a baby porg next to the porg. It's the cutest thing. It doesn't get better than that."

Many audiences might dismiss the porgs due to their adorable nature, but Johnson clarified they play a necessary component in establishing the film's tone.

"And then just story-wise — not that they play a big part in the story — but I knew I wanted to find any source of comic relief I could on the island," Johnson told Yahoo!. "And so they were very useful in terms of that."

The creatures were reportedly inspired by puffins that populated the Irish islands where many Ahch-To scenes were shot.

The director learned early on just how much these new creatures could create a backlash toward their cute presence.

"It wasn't until we got the actual puppets on set and the whole crew reacted with 'Oh my God, they're adorable!' and also then a few people in the crew were giving them that suspicious side-eye of 'These are cute, but are they too cute?'" Johnson said. "But the overwhelming reaction on set was everybody loved the Porgs. And I love 'em, so you know what? I get it if people are a little wary of cuteness in the Star Wars universe, but I personally love them, and I think they have their place in the movie."

We'll learn more about porgs when The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.

[H/T YouTube, Star Wars]