The Last Jedi’s crystal foxes get a name

The crystal fox we see on Crait in The Last Jedi trailer is a vulptex; A pack of them would be vulptices, and the name was developed by Pablo Hidalgo. Detailed today in Entertainment Weekly, the creatures will be both animatronic puppets and digital creations.

“They live within the burrows and within the tunnels beneath the planet,” [Creature shop head Neal] Scanlan says. “So there is a time where their ability to shine within the darkness, should provide a guiding light to our heroes.”

SDCC: Jason Fry is writing the The Last Jedi novelization, and other fiction news

A whole heap of Star Wars book news has come out of San Diego Comic-Con, some expected, some not. (This is all in addition to what we heard the other day!) Most are, naturally, tie-ins to The Last Jedi. We learned that longtime Star Wars writer Jason Fry is writing the Del Rey novelization of the film. Franchise newcomer Elizabeth Wein is writing Cobalt Squadron, “the harrowing story of the courageous bomber pilots and technicians of Cobalt Squadron.” The novel for young readers will feature Rose and Paige Tico.

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Porgs! Porglets! Details about The Last Jedi’s most adorable addition

StarWars.com is confirming that the penguin/puffin creatures we saw in The Last Jedi behind-the-scenes feature are indeed called porgs.

Pablo Hidalgo sheds a little bit of light on the species – they are native to Ahch-To, can fly, and the babies are called porglets. We can only hope that a nature documentary makes it onto the Blu-ray.

We first heard the term from Making Star Wars back in April. The concept art may also confirm that some of the porgs have orange coloring – though we can’t be sure until we see them on screen.

The Last Jedi: What Pablo actually said about Luke and Leia

Pablo Hidalgo’s been at Comic Con Chile this weekend, and it seems that some of his statements have been lost in translation/misquoted/overstated, particularly something about the status of a Luke and Leia reunion. io9 reached out and got him to clarify. (Mind, he’s not saying it doesn’t happen, just that they were speaking of the Vanity Fair photos.)

→ John Boyega shows off Finn’s blaster for The Last Jedi on his Instagram. Like the rest of his new gear, or at least what we’ve seen, it’s basically the one Poe had in The Force Awakens.

→ Rian Johnson’s comments on romance in The Last Jedi sent some tremors through the hopes of a few of the trilogy’s shipping communities. Vanity Fair writer David Kamp shares the full quote in context.

Johnson’s shot of Annie Leibovitz shooting them, as seen in the Vanity Fair video. Shotception!

→ And finally, in spoiler corner, some Lego sets have leaked. They feature at least one newish vehicle, minifigs of Supreme Leader Snoke (which may confirm his new look,) Vice Admiral Holdo, a new(ish) variation of droid and a rank change for Poe. The images aren’t long for this world, but they are up at Imgur for the moment. (via)