Is Admiral Ackbar's Mon Calamari Cruiser Returning in Rogue One?

The next two live-actionStar Warsmovies are currently shooting and are at various points in the production process, but that being the case, we are getting a steady stream of details from all kinds of varied sources.Rogue One: A Star Wars Storyis currently undergoing reshoots, prepping for the December release, andRian Johnsonis getting near wrapping principal photography onEpisode VIII. As such, there is a lot of new merchandise in the works, and as we know,Star Warsmerch can be very revealing.

A new listing on Entertainment Earth has revealed a couple of new Hot Wheels two packs, which feature two differentStar Warsships in each package. At least one of the packages appears to be including a new vehicle called the “Starship Raven,” but it is the more familiar vehicles that may be more interesting and revealing. One of the packages is said to include a Star Destroyer, and perhaps more tantalizingly, a Mon Calamari Cruiser. TrueStar Warsfans know that the words Mon Calamari are absolutely synonymous withAdmiral Ackbar.

According to the post on Entertainment Earth, it looks like the toy sets are going to be released in September of this year, which coincides with the release of newStar Warsmerchandise forRogue Oneas part of this year’s Force Friday event. If that is the case, this could mean that theMon CalamariCruiser will make an appearance in the movie, but more importantly, that could also mean that Ackbar could be coming back. We are definitely grasping at some straws here, but there are enough straws to grasp at that make us think this could be possible.

Firstly, it was reported back in February thatTim Rose, who plays Admiral Ackbar, had to cancel an appearance at Pensacon in order to go start working on a movie. SincePeter Mayhew, who plays Chewbacca, also had to cancel an appearance at the convention to go work on the same movie, which was filming in London, it is assumed they were both going to work onEpisode VIII. That means that we are going to be getting more Ackbar in the future, but that would lend credibility to the idea that Disney could have tapped him for a cameo or small role inRogue Oneas well. Mon Mothma is appearing inRogue One, and Ackbar has a bit of history with that character and as a Rebel Alliance leader, so he would fit right in.

Admiral Ackbar didn’t appear in a live-actionStar Warsmovie untilReturn of the Jedi, but in the expanded universe he had a long history fighting against the Empire and as a Rebel leader.Rogue Onetakes place in the time period betweenRevenge of the SithandA New Hope, and it revolves around the band of Rebels who stole the plans for the original Death Star. Ackbar was critical in the assault of the second Death Star in the Mon Calamari Cruiser, partially by realizing that the Empire had pulled an elaborate ruse on the Rebels. So, his inclusion inRogue Onewould be a nice way to more deeply connect his character to the history of theRebel Alliance. Granted, this toy could easily just be aReturn of the Jedithrowback package, but it is much more interesting to think of it as a tease of the return of Admiral Ackbar and the Mon Calamari Cruiser.