Star Wars fans are still debating the sequel trilogy, and probably will be for years to come. The question of whether or not Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a good movie or not is one a lot of people have very strong, and very different, opinions about. But there's at least one thing that we can all more or less agree on as it regards The Last Jedi, Porgs are cute. The puffin-like creatures native to Luke Skywalker's new home in the film were an incredibly popular addition, if only because they made for adorable merchandise. Even director Rian Johnson has one, though is was 'stolen' from the set.
A Star Wars fan brought up the question on Twitter, wondering how many of the little Porgs Rian Johnson had absconded with. As it turns out, he didn't need to steal any of them, as the creature shop actually gifted him one. Johnson reveals that the sad Porg who watches one of his friends being cooked by Chewbacca is now in his personal collection.
It's wonderful that there even was a physical porg for Rian Johnson to be given in the first place. It would have been so easy for all the little creatures to have been created via CGI alone, without any need for a creature shop creation. The sequel trilogy overall struck a solid balance between building real physical puppets and creating digital aliens as well. And the Porgs certainly needed some CGI help but making them physical as well was a nice touch for those that appreciate that level of technical skill.
It might be something of an exaggeration to say that everybody loves the Porgs, but they were certainly more universally accepted than some of the other additions to the Star Wars universe in The Last Jedi. At the same time, it shows just how powerful Star Wars is as a franchise. Porgs, like Ewoks before them, are never referred to by name during the film itself, and yet we all know what they're called.
Rian Johnson calls his porg a prized possession, and it certainly is. At the same time, every time I look at the sad face on the little guy I think of Chewbacca cooking a porg over a campfire and that face becomes a little heartbreaking. That is the face of a porg that has witnessed a murder.
Porgs have since appeared in some other Star Wars media. A few are visible in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker and The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special. They also appear in the Star Wars: Tales From the Galaxy's Edge VR game. What the future holds for the little guts is anybody's guess. We'd have to know what the future of Star Wars stories set after Rise of Skywalker is, and right now, we don't even know if, much less when, we'll get those stories.
