Chewie is likely safe. I don’t think Lucasfilm is going to want to revisit the Vector Prime reaction in this current fan climate.
Ironically, Chewie is probably going to be the only flesh-and-blood member of the original main-cast to survive in the new continuity.
I guess Chewie falls under the “don’t kill the dog” movie trope.
Yeah that, plus Chewie is one of the only characters who could continue to appear without anyone noticing the actor changing. And, since he’s a supporting character, he doesn’t face the burden of always (or ever) needing a compelling story arc in each film (like the droids).
Yeah, Chewie and the two droids are probably going to be in SW pretty much forever as they either don’t age or age very slowly, and, as you said, since the actors/performers can easily be replaced. Threepio is a bit of a problem though. I don’t really know how people would respond to replacing Anthony Daniels, but Chewie and Artoo are probably going to be in future SW content indefinitely.