Now that Solo: A Star Wars Story is showing in cinemas, we can catch a brand new glimpse into the life of the galaxy’s favorite scoundrel.
Solo tells the story of a young Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) as he finds his footing as one of the most sought-after pilots and mercenaries of his time.
The trailers of the film have (thankfully) not given too much of the plot away, but we know enough about the premise to get hyped for movie’s release. The gritty chases and sparse environments show us a tattered galaxy, likely a symptom of the cruel Empire in power throughout the original trilogy.
We have a lot of questions we hope the movie answers, but here are 5 basics tidbits we know right now will be influential to this Star Wars story:
Chronology
Solo’s events happen roughly ten years before we first met Han Solo in A New Hope. This means that the smuggler would have been in his early twenties in this movie, just at the beginning of his career as an outlaw and mercenary.
Ehrenreich’s performance will likely reflect a more optimistic version of the hardened hero (portrayed by Han Solo) from the original trilogy, and we definitely hope to see all the gritty details that created the guy who helped blow up the Death Star twice.
Lando Calrissian
In The Empire Strikes Back, Han Solo brings his gang of rebels (not the least of which is Princess Leia herself) to a planet called Bespin—Cloud City, to many fans. He seeks the help of an old friend, Lando Calrissian, to repair the hyperdrive on his ship, the Millennium Falcon.
It’s safe to mention now nearly 40 years later that Lando betrayed Han in this movie, exchanging his freedom for the sake of keeping his city free of Imperial troops.
Photo courtesy of IndieWire
In small moments, we felt the intense rivalry between Solo and Calrissian, and we can’t wait to delve deeper into the characters’ shared past. Oh, and this time, he’s being played by the awesome Childish Gambino, Donald Glover.
Millennium Falcon
The Falcon was first introduced to audiences everywhere as a “piece of junk” by the young Luke Skywalker. While many times throughout the saga we want to say he was right, this Corellian freighter has blasted our heroes out of harm’s way too many times to discount its value.
Trailers shocked fans everywhere when it revealed a significant design change to the front of the ship. Given how significant we know the Millennium Falcon to be to Han Solo’s life as a smuggler and a rebel, it’s not surprising that throughout the decades it would have gone through some major modifications.
Could the version we see in Solo represent what it would have looked like brand-new?
Star-crossed Lovers
Romance has always been a hallmark quality in Star Wars. In stories about hopeful perseverance in the face of injustice and merciless rule, love finds a perfect place.
We don’t know much about Q’ira (Emilia Clarke), but we know she and Han Solo develop something of a dynamic attachment to one another. It’ll be hard filling the shoes of Princess Leia, portrayed by the late Carrie Fisher as Solo’s love interest, but we can hope that Solo’s attraction to blaster-touting, larger-than-life women yet again tells a story that sends us over the moon.
Old Friends
It wouldn’t be a Han Solo prequel if we didn’t also learn about Chewbacca, his lifelong co-pilot. The wookiee has stayed by Solo’s side throughout the decades originally because of a life debt offered for freeing him from the Empire. We can safely assume that the human and wookiee have developed a friendship defined by much more than that. Will we get to see the two meet for the first time?
Also, we have heard rumors about old favorites returning to the big screen to reprise their roles, in ways that fit in with Han Solo’s backstory. We won’t offer any potential spoilers here, but we can say we’re very hopeful to see more of the old rebel gang.
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