Lucasfilm Confirms Another Major Change to C-3PO in Star Wars Sequel Trilogy

02/28/2017 01:39 pm EST

You probably didn't recognize him because of the red arm, but yeah, C-3PO the droid stalwart of the Star Wars franchise was in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the first film in the sequel trilogy. The protocol droid that's appeared in every live-action Star Wars film as well as both canon animated series, has been a fan-favorite character since Anthony Daniels - who still plays the droid - first brought him to life in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977. While the red arm was finally corrected and replaced at the end of the film, there's another change to C-3PO the minds behind Star Wars confirmed this morning, which might be reflected in his next appearance, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the #1 most anticipated movie for ComicBook.com readers.

In his first appearance, Threepio boasted that he was fluent in "over 6 million forms of communication," something he reiterated a few years later in Return of the Jedi. Well, thirty years later the droid has somehow increased his knowledge by around another 15%, adding 1 million more to his list. "By the time of The Force Awakens, C-3PO has upgraded his programming to include over 7 million forms of communication," the official Star Wars account tweeted today. The tweet pulled the information from the December 2015 book The Force Awakens Visual Dictionary, by Story Group's Pablo Hidalgo, but it's still a fun fact to bring to the masses who may not read every tie-in and scour them for every fact.

Sure, it's probably just meant to be a simple boast that marks the passage of time, but think for a moment about what 1 million more forms of communication, when you already had fluency in 6 million of them, really means. Threepio, and all droids, wouldn't learn something so extensive unless there was necessity to it. That means the Galaxy is likely significantly more explored, and more unified, than it was when the Galactic Civil War ended (or even before during the time of the Old Republic). Threepio's million more can include verbal, computer programming, non-verbal (body language); any form, so there are also several aspects to that statistic. The fact that Threepio runs a galaxy-wide network of secret spies and droid operatives in the sequels means he needs to be able to communicate with them all, hence the upgrade.

Ultimately, like the red arm (which was later explained through a comic book and a LEGO game DLC), this is a way to show that things moved on from the last film. Nevertheless, it's fun to know how Threepio has grown; now if only we knew more about Luke Skywalker...

Star Wars: The Last Jedi, from writer/director Rian Johnson, is in post-production now for a December 15, 2017 release. The film follows-up and continues the story of the next generation of the saga as Rey, Poe, Finn, and Kylo Ren find their place in the galaxy and follow the legacy of Luke Skywalker, Leia, and Han Solo. Daisy Ridley returns to star as Rey, with other returning stars John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Adam Driver, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Peter Mayhew, Andy Serkis, Anthony Daniels, Lupita Nyong'o Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. Benicio Del Toro and Laura Dern join the cast in as-yet-unrevealed roles.

More Star Wars News:

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Star Wars: Will We Get Luke Skywalker's Post-Return of the Jedi Story in The Last Jedi?

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