Solo: A Star Wars Story - first reviews (no spoilers)

20 March

Solo: A Star Wars Story - iconic villain to feature in upcoming film

Star Wars fans have been told to expect the return of an iconic villain when Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theatres in May.

The Sun reports that Jabba the Hutt will make a surprise comeback in the hotly anticipated Han Solo origins movie – 35 years after he was strangled to death by Princess Leia in Return of the Jedi.

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“It’s a huge secret, but Jabba is returning to the Star Wars universe,” a source close to production told the newspaper. “Fans will learn why Han ended up owing him so much money.”

The source added: “Yoda was brought back for The Last Jedi and now Disney wants to bring back another legacy character.”

Ben Morris, who worked on the visual effects for both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, also hinted that the slimy crime lord’s return could be on the cards.

“Jabba the Hutt would be a good guess,” he told the paper. “If I say any more I will get into trouble.”

The film, slated for release on 25 May, features breakout star Alden Ehrenreich as the young Solo, his co-pilot Chewbacca (Joonas Suatamo), and the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

Writing for We Got This Covered, Matt Joseph argues that Jabba is an obvious choice for the prequel.

“The criminal kingpin and Solo go way back and as such, it would be within the movie’s remit to explain just how their rivalry started,” he says.

8 March

Why was major character cut from Solo: A Star Wars Story?

Michael K. Williams’ character in the latest Star Wars film, Solo: A Star Wars Movie, was cut after “a huge shake-up on the set”, says Entertainment Weekly.

The original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were replaced by Ron Howard after they left the film last summer due to “different creative visions”.

Williams, who was originally expected to play a motion-capture character named Dryden Vos, was unable to return to film any new scenes because he was filming The Red Sea Diving Resort.

Dryden Vos, who is now written to be a human rather than a CGI creation, will now be played by Paul Bettany.

“What saddens me most is I was very proud of the work that I did,” Williams added.

The 51-year-old said the hardest part of the experience was that audiences won’t be able to see his scenes in the Millennium Falcon.

“We was on the spaceship, and we all had these amazing scenes together, and I thought it was a great opportunity, and I thought it was some great stuff. It’s unfortunate the world won’t get to see it.”

However, Williams took the blow in his stride, telling EWL “There are some things in life, you just gotta laugh at it.”

“There comes a point, you just gotta throw your hands up and, you know what, it just wasn’t meant to be.”

The film is slated for release on 25 May 2018.

So what other Star Wars movies are on the horizon? Here are the planned future films in the franchise:

Star Wars: Episode IX

Little is known about the final episode of the new trilogy, except that it will feature another new director in Jurassic World mastermind Colin Trevorrow. The film is being written by Rian Johnson though, so fans can expect some continuity in themes and tone from Episode VIII.

Release date: 2019

Star Wars Anthology: Boba Fett

The last planned spin-off will see everyone's favourite Darth Vader henchman get his own origins tale. Commenting on its delay, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy told Entertainment Weekly the story was one they were very keen to tell: "There is a lot of innovative technology in and around what it is we're doing with that story, so for a lot of reasons, we were comfortable postponing that."

Release date: 2020

5 February

Solo: A Star Wars Story teaser trailer and character posters released

The hype from the release of The Last Jedi has barely had time to die down, but Star Wars fans already have another reason to get excited - the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story appeared online today.

A teaser for the Han Solo origins movie aired during last night’s Super Bowl game, offering a short but sweet introduction to the youthful exploits of everyone’s favourite space hustler.

This morning, Good Morning America premiered the full-length version, which you can watch below, featuring Hail Caesar breakout star Alden Ehrenreich as the young Solo, on a quest to make a name for himself and become the “best pilot in the galaxy”.

Compared to other films in the Star Wars franchise, the trailer has “much more of a gangster / heist flick vibe, with plenty of gunfights, crazy flying, and harrowing escapes along the way,” says The Verge.

And if that wasn’t enough, Disney has also released some extremely cool artwork for the Solo spin-off.

The four character posters showcase familiar Star Wars heroes Han Solo , Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suatamo), as well as newcomer Qi’An (Emilia Clarke).

Community star Glover is already attracting plenty of attention for his retro hip take on Lando Calrissian, played by Billy Dee Williams in the original saga.