In the run-up to the release of The Last Jedi, the latest film in the Star Wars franchise, Lucasfilm and Disney have been treating us to tiny spoonfuls of information about what to expect from Episode VIII of the Star Wars saga. We’ve had poster releases and magazine covers which give us some clues, but one reveal that’s had everyone talking is the introduction of Porgs: cute new creatures which look like a mix between penguins and seals.
Some people are describing them as “the new Ewoks”, cute creatures designed to appeal to younger children, but we actually know quite a lot about Porgs already, beyond their obvious cuteness. If you want to go into The Last Jedi completely blind, it’s maybe a good idea to turn away now, though we won’t be revealing any huge plot spoilers, because we’re not best friends with George Lucas yet.
Porgs come from Ahch-To (gesundheit), which is where we see Luke hanging out at the end of The Force Awakens. They’re an avian species which live on the clifftops, building nests for their porglets (yes, baby ones really are called porglets) and generally causing mischief. They can fly with those cute fuzzy wings, they can run pretty quickly on their webbed feet, and they might bite you if you annoy them.
We’ve seen a variety of Porg merchandise released recently for Force Friday, including soft toys, figures, Funko Pops, stickers, stamps and more. None of these have revealed anything earth-shattering about the new species, but all have cemented the idea that they’re very cute, with big round eyes, and bellies to match.
The new Star Wars Blips shorts have also let us have a first glance at how the Porgs act and communicate, with “Keep Away” and “Stowaway” showing them at their cutest:
Fan reactions to the new species have been generally positive, most people thinking them very cute, and excited to see how their comic nature will balance out the more serious tone that The Last Jedi is likely to have, though some people are dismissing them as a marketing gimmick, or even worse, comparing them to the “comic relief” of Jar Jar Binks.
We won’t know until The Last Jedi’s December release what role the new creatures will really play in the saga, but we’re excited to see what the cute little clifftop avians will get up to when unleashed on Chewie and the crew.
Are you looking forward to Porgs being in The Last Jedi, or are you only interested in lightsaber battles and seeing more of Luke’s gross robot hand? Let us know in the comments below!
Some of the coverage you find on Cultured Vultures contains affiliate links, which provide us with small commissions based on purchases made from visiting our site. We cover gaming news, movie reviews, wrestling and much more.
