J.J. Abrams Teases Return of an Iconic 'Star Wars' Character

There have only been a handful of characters who have appeared in every 'Star Wars' movie so far. So, it's not too surprising to see that one of the saga's most important (and popular) seems to be officially back for 'Star Wars: Episode 7.' Straight from the Twitter account for J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot production company, here's a look at at the 'Star Wars: Episode 7' workshop.

What? Were you expecting a redesign? The wily robot looks identical to his appearance in the past six films, which isn't surprising at all. You don't fix what isn't broken and you certainly don't modify one of the most famous characters of all time for no good reason. Remember the fan moaning when R2-D2 showed off his flying capabilities in 'Star Wars: Episode II'? Exactly. Anything less than the original 1977 design would get people grumpy.

Other than that, there's not much else to see here. It's cool to see Abrams chilling out with R2 while surrounded by designers and effects people who are probably under the most stress of their careers, but it's not exactly surprising news. Did anyone think 'Episode 7' wasn't going to feature R2-D2 and, by extension, C-3PO? Nah. But hey, when news of the next 'Star Wars' saga has slowed to the tiniest of trickles, you've got to luxuriate in what you have.

'Star Wars: Episode 7' is scheduled to arrive in theaters of December 18, 2015.