Chewbacca shows his dark side in deleted scene from ‘Star Wars: 'The Force Awakens’

With the “Star Wars” franchise moving so rapidly forward, with “Rogue One” currently in cinemas a year after the saga’s long-awaited and much-anticipated return to our screens, and the next instalment in the main story, “Episode VIII,” coming out this December. But a deleted scene has recently surfaced from last year’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” which may feel like a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away), keeping it relevant.

Chewbacca gets violent

Sweet, lovable Wookiee Chewbacca shows his dark side in the clip, which is a fair bit darker than typical “Star Wars” fare. It certainly teaches fans the lesson that, while he’s friendly to you if you’re friendly to him, you’d do well to avoid getting in his bad books. You can watch the new clip below, but be warned that you may never look at Chewbacca (quite possibly your favourite “Star Wars” character) the same again. (The CGI looks a bit rough, but you get the idea.)

The scene was a snippet removed from the extended and multifaceted sequence that takes place in Maz Kanata’s (Lupita Nyong’o) catina substitute.

Director JJ Abrams (“Star Trek,” “Super 8”) most likely decided to take it out because that scene is possibly the longest in the Film and comes close to disrupting its signature “Star Wars” rapid-fire story flow, and this cut probably helped to dial it back from slowing the film down.

The scene is perhaps too reminiscent of ‘A New Hope’

In the scene, Unkar Plutt, the junkyard “portions” guy played by an unrecognisable, prosthetics-laden Simon Pegg, confronts Rey (Daisy Ridley), whose last scene with him in the final cut involves her stealing his Millennium Falcon (although we’re well aware who its true owners are). As he confronts her in Maz’s bar and threatens her, that’s when Chewie steps in to subdue him in a nasty way.

The way in which he dispatches Plutt could be a reference to the way Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) slices the arm off a man who threatens Luke (Mark Hamill) in the mirror of this scene in the original “Star Wars” film, which shares uncanny similarities with the story of “The Force Awakens.”