Fan anticipation for this year’s Star Wars Celebration in Chicago was already high. In fact, most tickets have all been sold out with only limited tickets for Monday remaining. And that was before Disney and Lucasfilm announced the full guest lineup. On Tuesday of this week we learned that Chewbacca, Maul and more will be joining the slate of Celebration guests.

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Joonas Suotamo in partial Chewbacca makeup. (Image: Disney/Lucasfilm)

Finnish actor Joonas Suotamo, who took over portraying the mighty Chewbacca from Peter Mayhew in The Force Awakens, will make his Celebration debut.  Standing at six feet, eleven inches tall, Suotamo will certainly be hard to miss. The would-be Wookiee is just one of many Star Wars actors to attend Celebration as first-timers this year.

Star Wars Celebration to Feature Many New Faces

Joining Suotamo is actor Sam Witwer, whose name has now become as synonymous with (Darth) Maul as that of Ray Park. Witwer has voiced Maul through Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, and in Solo: A Star Wars Story. (Witwer spoke recently about that experience and reviving Maul another time.) He too will be making his Celebration debut.

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Sam Witwer with a statue of his character, Maul. (Image: Sideshow)

Perhaps a more familiar face is that of Greg Grunberg, a/k/a Temmin “Snap” Wexley. A good friend of Star Wars: Episode IX director J.J. Abrams, Grunberg first appeared as the Black Squadron pilot and Star Wars: Aftermath character in The Force Awakens. Also appearing will be Paul Kasey (Admiral Raddus in Rogue One, Ello Asty in The Force Awakens), Ian McElhinney (General Dadonna in Rogue One), and the ill-fated Shaak Ti from the prequel trilogy (portrayed by actress Orli Shoshan).

Celebration Poster Art Revealed

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Image: Disney/Lucasfilm

StarWars.com also revealed this year’s Celebration poster, a stunning piece showcasing the heroes and villains of Star Wars juxtaposed within the symbol of the Jedi Order. Interestingly absent from the poster? One Poe Dameron. (That’s sure to create speculation regarding the hot-headed pilot’s fate in Ep. IX.) Unfortunately we don’t have information on the poster’s creator, but we’ll try to find that out for you. We’re sure copies of the poster will be available at the convention.

Star Wars Celebration takes place this April 11-15 at McCormick place in Chicago. Are you excited yet?

(For more information, you can visit the official Celebration website HERE.)

Source: StarWars.com