Wedge Antilles is perhaps one of the most beloved minor characters in the original “Star Wars” universe. The rebel pilot and friend of Luke Skywalker appeared in all three of the original George Lucas films, survived the original successful attack on the Death Star, the defense of the Rebel base on Hoth, and along with Lando Calrissian piloting the Millennium Falcon, was one of the lead pilots instrumental in taking down the Death Star for a third time in “Return Of The Jedi.”
Presumably he got promoted and was one of the Generals later on once peace was restored to the galaxy. So will he appear in J.J. Abrams’ “Star Wars: Episode VII”? Nope, and that’s by choice. Evidently someone in the ‘Episode 7’ camp reached out and asked actor Dennis Lawson, who played Wedge in the series, if he’d like to return/show up in the new series. “I’m not going to do that,” Lawson said of appearing in the next film to the Courier in the U.K. “They asked me but it just would have bored me.”
Youch. Lawson is famously the uncle of Ewan McGregor who of course would go on to play the young Obi Wan Kenobi in the justifiably much-maligned “Star Wars” prequels. Would the Wedge role have been a cameo? Something bigger? Did Lawson decide not to appear in the films because of the aforementioned piss-poor prequels? The actor didn’t elaborate at all, so you’ll just have to imagine that the initial acting gig probably wasn’t his favorite either. In 2001, Lawson however did provide the voiceover for the character’s appearance in a Nintendo game, but evidently, that was enough. So pour one out for Wedge, we’ll just have to imagine he retired peacefully.
Speaking of beloved characters that aren’t so minor, relatively speaking of course, fans are wondering what the hell has happened to Lando Calrissian and why isn’t he in “Episode VII”? Well, there’s no answer for that yet, but the actor, Billy Dee Williams, does have a consolation prize: according to “Star Wars” writer/consultant Simon Kinberg, Lando’s going to be appearing in the upcoming animated series,”Star Wars Rebels.” Hey, at least it’s something, right? Here’s the video below.