Solo: A Star Wars Story went through a lot of changes when Ron Howard came on board to helm significant reshoots, and we're unlikely to ever know what the original plan for the movie was.
While Howard delivered an enjoyable enough origin story, we can't help but think original filmmakers Phil Lord and Chris Miller came up with something a little more exciting and offbeat. Still, Maul's cameo as the true leader of Crimson Dawn was a jaw-dropping moment, while Qi'ra's betrayal of Han left us with a long list of questions.
One popular theory online is that Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra might have been leaking intel to Enfys Nest in the hope of either freeing herself from the criminal organisation or stealing Dryden Vos' power for herself.
When The Hollywood Reporter (via SFFGazette.com) put that to Solo writer Jon Kasdan, he called it a "great theory," and admits he hoped to address some of those dangling plot holes in a possible sequel.
"It was not what we were thinking exactly, but I’ll tell you the biggest problem that has always haunted me about Solo. I’m going to reveal the writer’s nightmare right now," he tells the trade. "If Dryden Vos [Paul Bettany] is so concerned about exposing his gang in the [Kessel] heist, why does he send his most trusted aid [Qi’ra] to be the most visible member of the team that steals the coaxium?"
"It seems to me that he’s going to have to kill her almost immediately just to separate himself from that job. So it always drove me crazy, and it was a problem that I was eager to retcon in a sequel."
As for whether we could see more Qi'ra, Kasdan responded, "I don’t honestly know. I’m always afraid to ask Kathy because she can see right through me. Despite all my resistance, she instantly sees right through me, and she can see my desire to tell more stories there."
"But in recent months, I have been intrigued by the wonderful Werewolf by Night as a potential form of storytelling on Disney+," the writer continued. "So I would love to see Lucasfilm embrace a short-form novella version for telling some of their stories. That certainly seems like a place where future stories about those characters could live."
That would be a great way to #MakeSolo2Happen, and while Qi'ra story has continued courtesy of Marvel Comics, such a small percentage of fans read those stories, we're not even entirely sure if they're actually considered canon by Disney! With any luck, we'll see Lucasfilm return to this time period in live-action sooner rather than later, anyway.
You can find out what Jon told us about a possible Solo sequel in the video below.