After the success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Disney is preparing for its next standalone film set in the Star Wars universe. This one will focus on the early life of Han Solo. If you were wondering just how young Solo will be in the film, Disney CEO Bob Iger has your answer: the film will cover Solo from the ages of 18 and 24.
Without getting too spoilery, it sounds as though this solo Solo film will showcase some of the key moments of the smuggler’s journey, including how he got his name, acquired the fastest hunk of junk in the galaxy, and met his best friend (Chewbacca). This is exactly what you want out of a Han Solo prequel film, right? You want to see how Solo wins the Millenium Falcon from Lando. You want to see Solo get involved in smuggling goods.
And will a young Solo come across the Empire on his own?
One of the co-stars of the as-yet-untitled Han Solo movie is Woody Harrelson, and he has suggested his character will be “kind of a criminal.” That doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be a bad guy, of course. After all, Solo is not exactly following the rules of the empire either. Could he be a mentor for Solo? It turns out, that’s exactly what he will be doing, according to Woody himself.
“I play a guy named Beckett who’s kind of a criminal and a mentor to Han. That’s all I can say, that’s it,” Harrelson said in an interview with Jimmy Fallon.
As for the Star Wars movie coming out later this year, Iger says he has seen Episode 8. One of the big unknowns is just how Disney and the Star Wars storytellers are going to handle the passing of Carrie Fisher, who has played Princess Leia. Fisher reportedly plays a significant role in Episode 8 and was slated to be in Episode 9.
As for Episode 8, it appears nothing has been modified regarding Fisher’s role, but Iger confirms they will not recreate Fisher’s signature character with a digital character as they did in Rogue One.
“We are not changing ‘8’ to deal with her passing. Her performance remains as it was in ‘8. In ‘Rogue One’, we created digitally a few characters… We’re not doing that with Carrie.”
While Fisher may not be digitally recreated (thankfully), it is likely some parts of the plot may have been modified to work around her passing. Have faith those responsible for molding the story will handle it in a respectable fashion.
Disney also has plans to continue the Star Wars storytelling beyond Episode 9 and the current lineup of spinoff films. Considering what Disney paid, and how well the films have done at the box office, they’ll likely be making Star Wars movies for a long time.
[Variety]
