It’s a good time to be a Star Wars fan. Now that Disney is in control of the franchise they’ve essentially promised to deliver an all-new Star Wars movie every year from now until… always, basically. In addition to the new Star Wars trilogy, which continues the events of the iconic original films, they are also hard at work on a series of standalone films which – so far – seem dedicated to answering questions that nobody thought to ask, like how the Rebels stole the Death Star plans in the first place and how Han Solo got his name.
That’s right, Disney CEO Bob Iger recently revealed some plot details about the upcoming Han Solo movie (which still doesn’t have an official title). Fans already knew that the film was a prequel starring Alden Ehrenreich (Hail Caesar) as the young Han Solo and Donald Glover (Atlanta) as the young Lando Calrissian, but exactly what time period the film would cover, and which events we’d see over the course of the movie remained a mystery… until now.
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While being interviewed for an audience at USC, Bob Iger explained what’s in store for the beloved character, originally portrayed by Harrison Ford throughout the original trilogy. (You can watch the complete video here.)
“We’re also making, we’re actually shooting now, an original story of Han Solo, which will come out in 2018,“ Bob Iger said. “And that picks up Han Solo when he was 18 years old and takes him through when he was 24, and there are a few things that happen, significant in Han Solo’s life, like acquiring a certain vehicle and meeting a certain wookiee. But you’ll also discover how he got his name.”
Several of these plot points were, although not officially announced, somewhat expected by fans to be a part of the Han Solo movie. We know that the smuggler had to meet Chewbacca somewhere, and we know he won his signature spaceship The Millennium Falcon from Lando Calrissian in a card game (called “sabacc”). We also know that at one point The Millennium Falcon completes the Kessel Run in “less than twelve parsecs,” but since parsecs are a unit of distance this boast is still a matter of some debate amongst Star Wars fans.
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But the idea that “Han Solo” might not even be the character’s real name is one that, in our experience at least, didn’t seem to be up for discussion. The idea of calling a character whose defining character trait was his trepidation to join a cause “Solo” was always pretty on the nose, but so is naming the only overweight character in the original Star Wars movie “Porkins,” and that happened too. So for the most part, Han Solo’s name has always been taken at face value.
Whether Bob Iger accidentally dropped a major plot point, or whether his off-the-cuff revelation is indicative of just how incidental Han Solo’s “real name” will be, or even whether this is all complete misinformation, or being delivered outside of crucial context… obviously, all of those things remain to be seen.
We’ll find out more when the Han Solo movie, whatever it’s called (our money is on simply Solo), arrives in theaters on May 25, 2018.
Top Photo: LucasFilm
William Bibbiani (everyone calls him ‘Bibbs’) is Crave’s film content editor and critic. You can hear him every week on The B-Movies Podcast and Canceled Too Soon, and watch him on the weekly YouTube series What the Flick. Follow his rantings on Twitter at @WilliamBibbiani.
