Star Wars‘ “rolling menace” known as BB-9E had a strangely adorable, and perhaps quite fitting, nickname on the set of The Last Jedi.
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BB-9E was officially unveiled by Sphero as part to the Force Friday II merchandising event put on by Lucasfilm. Sphero is the same company that sold a working toy model of BB-9E’s Resistance counterpart BB-8 ahead of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
On Twitter, Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson revealed that BB-9E had a different name on set: BB-H8 (pronounced “BB-Hate”).
Just be thankful we didn’t stick with his obscenely adorable on set nickname, BB-H8
— Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) August 31, 2017
Star Wars fans received their first opportunity to see BB-9E in action in one of the Star Wars Blips comedic animated shorts released online. The episode shows BB-9E encountering BB-8. As one might expect from a droid serving in the First Order’s astromech unit, BB-9E proves to be as standoffish and rude as BB-8 is charming and loyal.
BB-9E won’t be the only new BB unit entering the Star Wars canon in the near future. Other Force Friday II toy reveals indicated that some older BB units like BB-2 and BB-4 will be showing up on screen as well.
Not every Force Friday II reveal involved the BB droids. It was also revealed that Rey will be getting her own bear at Build-A-Bear Workshops. Another toy may have revealed the name of Benicio Del Toro’s mysterious Star Wars: The Last Jedi character. SH figurarts revealed an entire line of Star Wars: The Last Jedi action figures.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi currently has a 4.06 out of 5 CcomicBook.com User Anticipation rating, making it the most anticipated upcoming movie not based on a comic book among ComicBook.com users and the sixth most anticipated overall. Let us know how much you’re looking forward to Star Wars: The Last Jedi by giving the film your own personal ComicBook.com User Anticipation Rating below.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in theaters on Dec. 15, 2017.
