It may seem patently obvious, but the forthcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story is a hugely important movie for Star Wars fans. All Star Wars fans, of course, but for those of us who grew up with the 1977 original and the trilogy it began, there’s an added air of poignancy attached to the release of this film.
Now, before anyone accuses me of knocking the film before it’s released, or gatekeeping in any manner, hear me out. The arrival not only of a Han Solo film but a new performer in that role, means a lot. So much in fact, that when I saw Alden’s performance in the trailer I breathed a huge sigh of relief. Why? Not only because I felt he nailed it, but because it’s a role that would be so easy to get wrong. Harrison Ford wasn’t just Han Solo, Carrie Fisher wasn’t just Princess Leia and Mark Hamill wasn’t just Luke Skywalker. Allow me to elaborate.
Back in far simpler pre-internet days – before social media, when the weekly and monthly magazines and comics were the lifeblood of Star Wars, playground tittle-tattle was its pulse and anything – anything – even vaguely related to Star Wars was akin to finding the Titanic – the actors and the crew of the Star Wars saga were like The Beatles. Today, in what is inarguably a vastly different world, that’s got to be hard to imagine.
Here in the UK back in the 70’s, we had 3 TV channels. BBC Radio was Radio 1, 2, 3 and 4 and the World Service. Woody Woodpecker would come on at 8.50pm, which meant it was definitely time for bed once he’d huh-huh-huh-hurrr-hurrred his last huh-huh-huh-hurrr-hurrr. There was no breakfast television, so the news was on at lunchtime, 5.45pm and 10pm. You read the daily red tops and ignored pages 3, 5 or 7 (at least you did when your folks were in the room) and a sighting of a Star Wars actor in a TV show or film instantly, by association, made that film infinitely cooler.
When Harrison Ford made Force 10 From Navarone, I had to see it. Hanover Street, The Frisco Kid, Raiders of the Lost Ark…that wasn’t just Harrison Ford, that was Han Solo, and I’d watch him like a hawk for just a glimpse of Han-ishness. The same for Carrie in The Blues Brothers (still my favourite film after the OT and Raiders), or Mark in The Big Red One or the brilliantly bonkers Britannia Hospital.
They were far more than just the characters they played, and by turn far more than the actor playing it. In the early 80’s, everything associated with Star Wars or Lucasfilm just had that extra special something. Anything ILM worked on was a must-see. Spielberg films, not only because they were generally brilliant but because he worked so closely with George Lucas and shared a composer, producers and a special effects house, were added to that list, but I’m talking here specifically about the character of Han Solo.
There’s no getting away from it, we all get older. I might feel like I’m still 15, but I’m 47 next month. 50 is fast approaching, and as I get older my heroes grow older with me. Harrison is 76 in July, John Williams just turned 86. George Lucas is 74 in May, Spielberg just turned 71. Mark Hamill is 66 and we’ve already lost Carrie, Kenny, Ralph McQuarrie, Marquand, Peter Cushing, Sir Alec….so many people, intrinsically attached to my childhood, my youth and my adulthood.
So, when a new actor steps into Harrison’s shoes, occupying the role that made him a star, there’s a lot more going on than simply recasting because Father Time cares not for childhood memories. There’s a lot of baggage, a lot of life, that comes with it, and I don’t mind admitting that made me pause.
The big question is, do I want a new, young Han Solo story? Aren’t the unsurpassable novels by the late Brian Daley enough? That original Marvel run from the 70’s and 80’s? The trilogy by the much-missed A.C. Crispin that captured his youth so well? Of course they are! They’re more than enough, and they have been for a long time.
But….
Would I want to deny kids today, the younger fans coming into the saga, the chance to meet Han Solo in his prime for the first time like I did back in 1978? Furthermore, don’t I want to see more thrilling and illuminating Han Solo adventures? Have the chance to watch Han and Chewie meet for the first time. See how that legendary sabacc match for the Falcon really went down, written by the script writer who put such awesome words into Fords mouth for Empire and Jedi (and of course The Force Awakens)?
Hell yes!
George Lucas kept a lot of stuff off-limits, and one of those was the first meeting between Han and Chewie. It was alluded to plenty in the EU, but we never actually saw it. On May 25th (the real Star Wars Day, not the gimmick Hallmark holiday of May 4th) we finally will.
I’m writing this while listening to the soundtrack to The Empire Strikes Back, music I’ve pretty much had playing constantly in the background since my childhood friend Lee Powell did me a cassette copy back in 1980. It’s currently on The Battle of Hoth (Ion Cannon) track, and coming next is The Asteroid Field. I can’t wait for that track, it’s the ultimate adventure music, and seeing the trailer for Solo with Han and Qi’Ra in the speeder, the new characters being introduced to us, Chewie looking oh-so right with his double bandoliers and goggles…bring it on, I cannot wait.
