ST New Droid - BB-8

We noe have an image of the new R2 unit that was rumoured a short time ago, so I have created a thread for him. It is obviously with Daisy and Boyega in this image. Do we think it will play a major role in the film? Perhaps it is Daisy's unit whilst R2 D2 has remained at Luke's side all this time.

Will it survive the film? R2s other than D2 don't have a good track record of surviving very long in SW films.

 

New type of droid. May not be a new R2 unit, though.

 

I just hope he doesn't replace R2.

 

This might not be the ieal thread, but please, whats that supposed to be at the bottom right?

 

I like the idea of a new sidekick droid character, even if only for a portion of the film. I see the droid, the blue alien, and possibly the old man cyborg character as being Daisy's friend group, the way Kitster, Wald and co. were Anakin's pals in TPM.

I wonder what kind of personality this droid has, and what will set it apart from R2. It looks pretty blatantly "cute," so I could see it having a childlike personality, even moreso than R2.

 

KT-10? (Maybe Daisy has a female droid friend growing up.)

 

I do actually see some slight similarities. The red color scheme, the box around the "eye," the overall roundness. Perhaps a new "love interest" for R2? Haha.

 

Yeah, totally does look like that. also reminds me of an iMac from the 90s

 

Don't insult R2 units by comparing them to Apple products! What have R2 units ever done wrong to you?

 

Looks like an egg.

R2 should stay the same! Of course, he could always be equipped with some new fresh upgrades, but a new R2 unit? That's a big no, no.

 

I've got to say, of all the new concept art pics, this one is the one I can't stand the most...

Looks like a screen cap from TCW or something...
But the droid and the little old lady-alien just are totally not Star Wars...

Hopefully they found this concept piece in the garbage somewhere...

Regarding the droid, though, as I said above it just doesn't fit with Star Wars. It seems like a Disney-fied droid, for what that's worth... Uninspiring...

Hopefully more of the artists can tell the difference between something that looks like it belongs in Star Wars, and something that doesn't. Some of these designs so far don't seem that way... Hopefully they're just rejected pieces...

 

It kind of looks like an R2 unit / astromech droid, but I doubt it really is. My money is on it being a new, different type of droid.

 

No one can replace Artoo. But I wouldn't mind if we had another little droid featured in the movie.

 

Maybe the droid belongs to the blue creature, as some kind of counterpart or helper. Maybe it's not even a droid but a device of some sort.

 

looks like something from star tours.

 

Looks like Star Wars to me.

Love the new droid; very cute. The alien is awesome too.

 

There's a few options here:

1) It's just concept art so it means nothing.
2) It's just a droid "extra" - background droid, trash droid, alien poop cleanup droid, etc.
3) It's J.J.'s attempt to have something "cute" but not Jar Jar or Ewoks.

 

I'd still go with it belonging to one party, whilst R2 is with another party. For instance, Obi-Wan had his own droid in AOTC and ROTS whilst R2 belonged to Anakin and Padme at that point.

If R2 has been accompanying Luke on his adventures over the years, this might be Daisy's companion.

 

I actually wouldn't mind R2 and 3PO staying with the Big Three, and having new droids accompany the younger cast. It would be pretty symbolic of Lucas no longer being involved. Star Wars lives on, but it's not quite Lucas' Star Wars.

 

Maybe but I still like the idea of the overall saga being told through the eyes of R2 and 3PO as representative of the "common man".

Someone said recently (I think it was a director who knocked back the role of directing a spin-off) that he would have emphasised the fact that 3PO and R2 were chiefly witnessing the follies of their various owners, whilst those owners perceived themselves as heroic.

 

I'm more interested in the alien on the right. (Andy Serkis?)

 

Looks way too different to be some form of an R2 unit, even a futuristic one.

 

Agreed. An astromech, but not an R2.

Whatever it is, this and any other droid won't replace Threepio or Artoo. They will be constants in the Saga. Perhaps Daisy does have a droid but it doesn't last, is used to show that C-3PO and R2-D2 are unique.

 

Droids come in so many shapes and sizes in Star Wars that, imo, ther'es no such thing as a "not Star Wars enough" for a droid.

What about the little mouse droid who squeeks. Or the big doofy box droid, or the one who screams when his feet get burned, or the 3 stooges pit droids. This new Astromech dude doesn't seem out of place at all in the grand scheme of things.

 

I was going to say the same thing. Doesn't look like a natural progression in design to me. Looks like a completely different type of unit.