Now that the first photos and official information about Solo have been released, old school fans will probably have rejoiced when a certain planet’s name was confirmed: a planet called Mimban. Let’s have a look why this planet’s appearance is so remarkable.
Early appearance
Mimban’s origins go back a long way. The first traces of a misty bog planet are found in the drafts for Star Wars when George Lucas thought about featuring such a planet (not necessarily called Mimban) in the movie. The swamp planet didn’t appear in Star Wars, but was reused for The Empire Strikes Back where it became known as Dagobah, the planet where Yoda went into exile after the fall of the Jedi Order.
But Mimban would enter the Star Wars universe sooner than Dagobah. It was the planet where the events took place in the very first spin-off novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, written by Alan Dean Foster and published in 1978. The prehistoric era of Star Wars publications was unique for there was just one movie and additional material (like the Marvel Comics) was scarce and not really meant to intertwine with other publications story-wise. The interesting thing about Splinter is that its script was developed as a back-up plan for Star Wars. If Star Wars would have failed at the box office, the script of Splinter could have served for a follow-up low budget movie. The settings are misty and dark in order to limit possible production costs and absent in the story is Han Solo because Harrison Ford hadn’t yet signed on to appear in another Star Wars movie, in contrary to Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. Alan Dean Foster met with George Lucas and vice president of Lucasfilm Charles Lippincott in October 1976 to discuss the story of the script / novel and the future of Star Wars. Splinter is the Star Wars novel (along with the original novelization) with the largest immediate influence by George Lucas. Splinter also features another concept of Lucas that was used from one of his drafts for Star Wars: the Kaiburr Crystal. This crystal was later renamed and reused as Kyber Crystals, the crystals that are used in the construction of a lightsaber and that power the Death Star’s superlaser.
In Splinter of the Mind’s Eye Mimban was first described as follows: “A vast, cloud-shrouded globe, the planet was listed in Luke’s library as being mostly unexplored, save for a single early Imperial scouting expedition. According to the computer readout, it was also known to the Circarpousians as Mimban …” (1)
In the story, Luke and Leia (with R2-D2 and C-3PO) crash on Mimban (or Circarpous V). They need to find a way to reach a rebel conference on Circarpous IV in time. Meanwhile they meet a minor Force sensitive woman called Halla. Along with two Yuzzem (not Yuzzums!) they depart in search for the mysterious Kaiburr Crystal. However, our heroes are not the only ones looking for the Crystal. Because the story was written so early in Star Wars history, it was nearly impossible to avoid continuity issues in the Expanded Universe. But when read with the right set of mind, it still is a very interesting document. The book can be read for its historical value and because Ralph McQuarrie created the stunning cover for Splinter and the first image of Mimban, the novel is a cool item to have in your collection.
Comics and other Legends
After a long slumber, Mimban debuted in the comics when Dark Horse created its adaptation of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye in 1995 – 1996. The art of Chris Sprouse expanded Mimban and its locations. The planet made another appearance in Dark Times: Parallels (2007). The planet was regularly mentioned in different (now Legends) sources. One of those was a proper entry in the excellent The Essential Atlas (Solo could alter its location in the Expansion Region, though). Mimban also became the home planet of Rebel Alliance pilot Gemmer Sojan (known from the vintage Marvel comics).
Already part of canon
Because Mimban was mentioned in “Rookies”, episode 5 of the first season of The Clone Wars, the planet has been part of the Star Wars canon since 2008. In that episode, a hologram VJ delivers this message: “You’re listening to the Grand Army of the Republic broadcast, the Voice of the Outer Rim. This next one goes out to the Mud-Jumpers of the 224th, slugging it out on Mimban. Keep your heads down and your seals tight, boys.”
Mimban also came up during the development of Rogue One as a possible location of the Kyber Crystals. Eventually it was replaced by the moon of Jedha. Using Mimban wasn’t illogical since the Empire ferried Kyber Crystals to the Death Star’s construction site and Mimban was after all the location where a similar crystal was encountered for the first time in a Star Wars publication. Even the Temple of Pomojema got mentioned in concept art. There certainly was a connection between Mimban and the crystals, but it was still a nice surprise to see that the planet hadn’t been forgotten.
Now, after forty years, Mimban is ready to make its screen debut in Solo. It seems there still is a lot of mist and mud on Mimban and perhaps we’ll finally see the stormtroopers who inherited the position from the Republic ‘Mud-Jumpers’. Ironically it will be Han Solo, who was missing in Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, who’ll set foot on the planet. Mimban’s return can be a good example of how elements that originally hail from Legends can still serve an interesting purpose.
Potential spoiler: At New York Toy Fair Hasbro showed photos of Han and Chewie, covered in mud with a metal chain on their ankle. Will a lifelong friendship begin on Mimban?
Sources: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, The Making of The Empire Strikes Back, The Clone Wars: Rookies, The Art of Rogue One, Star Wars Insider 121 and Star Wars Insider 146.
(1) Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (Alan Dean Foster, 1978)