if i remember correctly, and i may be wayyy off, Chewie was a slave for the Empire, Han Solo saved him and Chewie has a life-debt to Han. Y'know, always being there for him and fixing the falcon and such. i don't know how that could be in the movie though, because they'd have to find a dude who looks like a young Harrison Ford and that'd be cheesy! Unless Harrison does the movie and gets CGI make up done! or they have chewie in a cameo-type thign minus Han Solo. I don't know. the new flick better be like 3 hour long or so. they've got a lot of story to cover, three sequels to set up.