Star Wars: Chewbacca Actor Offers His Insight on the Medal Moment in The Rise of Skywalker

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker righted one great wrong from the original Star Wars. Fans have talked for years about Chewbacca getting snubbed during the medal ceremony that ends the first Star Wars movie. During the ceremony, Chewbacca walks down the aisle alongside Luke Skywalker and Han Solo. All three are responsible for destroying the Death Star. But Princess Leia only places medals around Luke and Han’s necks. Chewbacca only watches. In The Rise of Skywalker, following the deaths of Leia, Luke, and Han, one of those medals is finally given to Chewbacca. “This is for you,” Maz Kanata says as she hands the medal to Chewie.

Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo discussed this moment in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter. “I was celebrating,” he says. “It was the greatest thing. The whole ending weaves together all the storylines one last time, and it was wonderful to see that happen. It was also great to have the Maz character do it because Chewie and Maz seem to have this history together. Hopefully, we’ll learn something more about that in the future on some other story, but, yeah, I just really enjoyed how that played out.”

As far as whether that’s the same medal given to Han decades earlier, Suotamo could only offer his theory. “I think so,” he says. “It would make sense, yeah. Nobody told me whose medal it was, but I’m thinking it was Han’s.”

During a 2017 interview, original Chewbacca actor Peter Mayhew offered practical reasons for why he didn’t get a medal. “I think it was one of two reasons,” Mayhew said [via CinemaBlend]. “One, they didn’t have enough money to buy me a medal. Or two, Carrie [Fisher] couldn’t reach my neck, and it was probably too expensive to build a little step so that I could step down or she could step up and give me the medal.”

The Star Wars: Chewbacca comic book published by Marvel Comics in 2015 helped shed new light on this situation. According to that comic, which is part of the official Star Wars canon, Chewie did receive a medal. He chose never to wear it because it would “clash” with his “whole warrior vibe.”

What do you think of Chewbacca finally getting his medal? Do you think it’s the same medal that Leia gave to Han? Let us know in the comments section. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now playing in theaters.