BB-8's True Role In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' To Be Explored In 'Episode VIII'?

BB-8 in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" has become a fan favorite among other characters in the film. For those unfamiliar with its role, the rolling droid carries a piece of the map to Luke Skywalker's whereabouts. Apart from that, he's also the reason why Rey and Finn are being pursued by The First Order. But as he spends the majority of the film "rolling" alongside the main characters, he eventually reunites with his original owner, Poe Dameron.

Now that the droid has done its part, many are asking -- what will be BB-8's role in the next installment? Rumors suggests that a revisit to the original trilogy might hold some answers.

It's arguable that "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" is essentially "Star Wars: A New Hope." In the 1977 film, R2-D2 played the droid with the important information that both the bad and good guys were looking for, although in the next installment he had a very different role to play. In "The Empire Strikes Back," R2-D2 went with Luke to the Dagobah system when he started his training under Yoda.

In a similar fashion, Rey finds Luke Skywalker in the final minutes of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," presumably to start her own training. Bustle alleges that BB-8's role might be patterned to his closest relative in the franchise, and he will somehow reunite with Rey in "Episode VIII."

Then again, these are just speculations until Disney officially releases Episode VIII's plot summary.

"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" features Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher returning to their old characters and introduces series newcomers Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke.

Disney has given "Star Wars: Episode VIII" an official May 26, 2017 release date.