How the Legend of Constable Zuvio Was Born in Star Wars: The Force Awakens

It happens all the time. A talented creature shop makes a great looking character, you name him, a toy gets made of him… and he gets cut out of the movie.

Okay, it doesn’t happen all the time, but it did happen to Constable Zuvio in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. The character, wearing a round hat and a harsh gaze, was one of the first alien residents of Jakku that fans saw. Hasbro took him to the next level, making action figures, including a Black Series figure – their elite line typically reserved for high-level characters. Then, he got cut from the film.

Zuvio was named by Pablo Hidalgo of the Star Wars Story Group at Lucasfilm, he told EW.

“We knew, with Star Wars being Star Wars, that we’d want a name and identify as many characters as possible for potential toys, potential storytelling, potential what-have-you,” Hidalgo said. The toys came, and the character was featured in Star Wars: The Force Awakens – The Visual Dictionary by Hidalgo, but he didn’t make it into the film – or so we thought.

“I think there’s like four frames of him, literally,” Hidalgo said, after spotting him on the Blu-ray release of the film.