SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY - 13 Major New Revelations From Director Ron Howard - SPOILERS
Ron Howard recently sat down for a lengthy interview about all things Solo: A Star Wars Story and the filmmaker has dropped some huge revelations about the villains, Easter Eggs, scrapped cameos, and more.
Solo: A Star Wars Story may not have taken off at the box office but there's a lot to love about the spinoff movie. As well as delving into the titular character's origin story, we got to see the Galaxy's underworld expanded in a big way and the return of a fan-favourite villain from The Phantom Menace.
Now, director Ron Howard - who replaced original helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller - has sat down for a lengthy interview and revealed some huge new details about the movie you guys need to know.
Even if you hated it, there's some great information here, including details on a scrapped Jabba the Hutt cameo, how things changed once Howard took over, and where things could go next for these beloved characters. So, to take a look at this list of reveals, simply click on the "View List" button.
The Five Crime Syndicates Could Return
Much of Solo: A Star Wars Story revolves around Crimson Dawn, one of the Star Wars Universe's five major crime families. That's an area of this Galaxy we've never really had the opportunity to explore (especially after that video game was scrapped), and Ron Howard believes that we will in future.
"Potentially one would think it might be kind of interesting to see what a war amongst the Syndicates looks like," he teases. "There's nothing concrete there, but that's interesting territory. In what movie and through which character's perspective that might emerge... I think everybody feels like that's rich territory to explore in the movie universe." Well, Boba Fett would be one option!
L3-37 Might Live On
A lot has been made of L3-37's consciousness essentially being trapped within the Millennium Falcon but Howard believes that her story may not necessarily be over. "Is there some way that Lando could rebuild L3? One would hope, wouldn't you. Maybe the Falcon gets to keep a bit of that super-intelligence but Lando could maybe, somehow, someday find his way to reconstructing L3."
A Lando Calrissian Movie Could Happen
The filmmaker confirms that there is "no concrete plan" for another movie revolving around Han Solo (which is hardly a surprise given those box office numbers) but he's not ruling it out as he believes that there is room for more stories to be told between the events of the prequel and A New Hope.
What about Lando Calrissian, though? Donald Glover's character is a clear breakout star in the movie and Howard seems positive that it could happen down the line. "He's so entertaining, that's a real possibility. All of this is in discussion, but it all depends on project-by-project development."
Ron Howard Fought To Include Darth Maul
Solo's biggest surprise comes when The Phantom Menace villain Darth Maul is revealed to be Crimson Dawn's leader. You have to believe there's room to explore his role within that group down the line and Howard shed some light on the work which went into bringing him back to the big screen here.
"I said, 'Maul, what happened to him?' I hadn't seen the animations but I knew more had happened with him," Howard explains. "They told me the story and I said, well wouldn't that be cool? My 30-year-old son thinks that’s the coolest guy, and so I admittedly lobbied. It wasn't entirely my decision but I thought that was a pretty scary way to go and a way to give our third act a nice twist and a jolt of recognition and excitement. The first time I saw it with fans, I saw that it was a good call."
Surprisingly, another possible candidate was none other than Jabba the Hutt! "Jabba was on the list," Howard confirmed, "but they kind of knew they didn't want to go that way because it would be sort of funny, and maybe a little bit too much like sequel-baiting." To be fair, that may not have worked.
Qi'ra's Farewell Was...Altruistic?
The end of the movie delivers a pretty major twist when Qi'ra chooses to return to Darth Maul and abandon Han and Chewie. However, it turns out there was a very good reason for that. "In my mind, she knew she couldn't run off with Han. It would be his death and hers. She set him up to go, assuring him that she'd follow, but knowing she couldn't really. She had to clean this situation up as best as she could. I think she hoped she could report in and then disappear, but [Maul] trapped her."
"He said, 'Come to Dathomir and we're going to be working closely together', and you realise, 'Oh my god, she's traded one oppressive boss in for an even scarier dude'," he continues. "In a way it fuels her ambition and puts her in a position of heightened power, perhaps. Or heightened danger. I thought it was kind of courageous for her." You know what, that actually makes a lot of sense.
Dryden Vos's Changing Facial Markings
Something you may not have noticed in Solo is the fact that the scars on Dryden Vos's face change throughout the movie. They're not just regular scars. "The idea that the facial striations would intensify and diminish depending on his mood came after the [shoot] because Paul's performance was so mercurial and interesting in the way he would flare up and then be charming," Howard says.
"That was suggested a little bit in the script, but mostly generated out of Paul's creativity. He was also so handsome and charismatic that we wanted to make him a little scarier, and actually went back and added the scene where you can see him hands-on killing a governor […] He's like one of those animals that changes colors and can't help it, like a mood stone." So, he's not quite human.
George Lucas Always Wanted To Explore Han Solo's Youth
While fans haven't responded particularly well to learning about Han Solo's origin story, it turns out that was actually something George Lucas always planned on doing. "It was hatched before Disney acquired Lucasfilm," Howard confirmed. "When Kathy Kennedy first came on board and George Lucas was interested in finishing the saga and possibly exploring other avenues as they had with the animation, [screenwriter] Larry Kasdan came from a meeting and the thing that Larry said and George immediately agreed with is, ‘young Han Solo’ – that's a movie character, that's a hero."
As for whether or not a movie revolving around a hero like this can actually have any stakes, he adds:"And yes, we know he's going to survive. But don't you always kind of know that the hero's going to survive in these swashbuckling movies? We know that he's full of adventures."
Warwick Davis's Multiple Roles
Warwick Davis often pops up in the Star Wars movies as a variety of characters and he plays a member of Enfys Nest's gang in Solo. However, it turns out that he actually had a whole lot more than that to do here as the actor - and members of his family - ended up taking on multiple roles in the spinoff.
"Warwick is a kind of natural contributor, he's almost like an advisor when it comes to a lot of the droids and a lot of the creatures. In things like the Sabacc game, Warwick appears in it [and] his daughter is also a character, he's also working with the puppeteers. In the droid rebellion he played a character and also helped with some of the behaviours of the droids. He's really a secret weapon."
There Was Still Improvisation On Ron Howard's Set
While we've heard that original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired for allowing too much improvisation during shooting, Howard says that's "not true" and revealed that he often deviated from the script while shooting. "The reality is Phoebe [Waller-Bridge] was ad-libbing a lot of her stuff, so was Donald [Glover]," the director confirms. "Larry and Jon [Kasdan] were delighted by all that, so it's not like they're writers that were insisting that everybody stick to the letter of the script."
In fact, some of Solo's funniest moments were shot by Howard, including showing Han and Chewie sharing a shower and the bizarre conversation Qi'ra and L3-37 had in the Millennium Falcon's cockpit.
Harrison Ford Was Positive About The Movie
Harrison Ford isn't one to shy away from sharing his honest thoughts about the Star Wars franchise but it turns out he actually really enjoyed the movie and watching Alden Ehrenreich's performance as a younger version of Han Solo! "Man oh man, when Harrison Ford called me and said, 'I saw the movie and it's really great'… I mean Harrison is never effusive. He can be complimentary, he can be kind, he can be all those things, he's never effusive, he was so pumped up," Howard recalls.
"He was so happy and he said, 'Alden did exactly what he had to do – he made it his own, but he really understood the spirit of the character, and I'm really happy for him.'" High praise indeed, eh?
Tom Hanks Wanted To Cameo
Ron Howard and Tom Hanks have teamed up for a lot of different movies over the years and it turns out that Solo could have been one of them! Sadly, it just didn't work due to some annoying timing issues. "Tom Hanks wanted to be a stormtrooper, but I couldn't get him. He wasn't available," he reveals. "That would have been great. I don't even know if he really meant it, but he said that he'd love to come and be a stormtrooper but it didn't quite ever happen. Maybe next time."
The Kessel Run Changed During Production
Solo's standout sequence was the Kessel Run but it actually changed a lot when Howard agreed to direct the spinoff. For example, he added that massive space monster and "even using the Coaxium as a factor in the ultimate escape was something that just evolved through this incredible process."
It seems that Lord and Miller hadn't got very far into figuring out what this scene would consist of when they were still on board in that case which is definitely interesting. Perhaps their lack of planning is what ultimately led to their dismissal because it seems Howard constructed almost all of that.
The Escape Pod Once Had A Very Different Use
The Millennium Falcon has a new look in the movie but the front of the ship - which is revealed to be an escape pod - is quickly jettisoned by Han during the Kessel Run to distract that monstrous alien. Well, it turns out that it could have been used much differently at one stage in development. "It had more to do with the TIE fighters and it happened earlier, scraping along the carbon-bergs and things like that," the filmmaker explained, pointing to some pretty big changes being made to the scene.