Science
Jodie Ng

All was right in the galaxy when Harrison Ford made his epic return as Han Solo with his sidekick Chewbacca in the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer. In the clip, we see that Han Solo has aged with time but one Twitter user noted that his side-kick Chewbacca seems to remain exactly the same.

For starters, we do know that Wookiees, such as Attichitcuk — Chewbacca’s father — are able to have grey hair. It’s not as if they are immortal and never grow old. For those unaware, Wookiees are a species of furry humanoids.

Andy Mangels — author of Star Wars: The Essential Guide To Characters (First Edition) — explained in an e-mail that Itchy was introduced in the 1978 The Star Wars Holiday Special and at the time was 350 years old.

“Chewbacca’s age circa Star Wars: A New Hope was 200 years,” he said. “So, it stands to reason that if Chewbacca aged like this father, he could go grey sometime in the next 150 years.”

He adds that, to his knowledge, the timeline in the movie is progressing in real time. Since A New Hope was released 38 years ago, Chewy would be almost 240 years old. With that said, Mangels is willing to bet “he has a bit more grey in this one, even though we only saw a brief shot in the trailer.”

A representative for Lucasfilms could not immediately be reached for comment but writer Alan Foster speculated in an e-mail that Wookiees have different DNA which could explain why Chewie still has his youthful locks. But it’s important to remember that their lifespan can last over hundreds of years.

While Ford may have aged, it seems to be reasonable that our furry friend has no grey hair. Perhaps there is no one answer explaining the aging process of Wookiees but we should all take notes on his beauty regime as he is looking incredible for someone who is over 150 years old.