Meet BB-9E, Star Wars’ new, evil version of BB-8

Lucasfilm unveiled the newest member of Star Wars: The Last Jedi today leading up to its toy collecting extravaganza, Force Friday II, and he’s awfully familiar looking.

BB-9E, seen in the photo above, belongs to the “astromech unit of the First Order that keep their starships and machinery operational,” according to a press release issued by Disney. We don’t know much more about BB-9E except that he’s probably Kylo Ren’s sidekick. In various photos from different Lego kits, BB-9E is seen standing guard beside the First Order’s frightful leader. If that’s the case, it seems fitting that Kylo Ren would finally get his hands on a BB droid after chasing down BB-8 in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Despite not knowing too much about BB-9E, we have a couple of clues to help us figure out just what the droid will sound like in the movie. Unlike his BB-8 relative, BB-9E doesn’t sound too chipper. He has a more monotonous, annoyed beeping sound. The top of his head, which is attached to a spherical body, glows red, signaling his allegiance to the First Order.

BB-9E isn’t the first evil droid to be used in Star Wars, nor is he the first to appear as a darker version of another beloved droid. 0-0-0, otherwise known as Triple Zero, was a prototype droid introduced Marvel’s Darth Vader comic. Triple Zero is an evil version of C-3PO. In Darth Vader 3: Vader, Part III another evil drone was introduced, but this version was a clone of R2-D2. BT-1 was an assassin droid who was created as part of the Galactic Empire's Tarkin Initiative.

We won’t be able to see just how evil BB-9E will be until The Last Jedi is released on Dec. 15.