“Star Wars” fandom has been waiting patiently to see some form of trailer for the upcoming “Solo: A Star Wars Story” film that Disney is set to release Memorial Day 2018.
“Solo” has been the subject of considerable banter on the internet — mainly because the original directors (Phil Lord and Christopher Miller) left the production three weeks from the completion of principal photography. Rumor has it that they clashed with Lucasfilm throughout the production. In case you aren’t familiar with the duo, they were responsible for “The Lego Movie” and the “21 Jump Street” films.
Ron Howard was brought in to reshoot 80 percent of “Solo.”
If you’re like me, you might be wondering why they didn’t simply hire Ron Howard in the first place — since he had a previous relationship with Lucasfilm, having directed 1988's “Willow," and starring in George Lucas’s “American Grafitti” movies in the 1970s.
We’ll likely never know the full extent of the off-screen turmoil. But the fact that Lucasfilm continues to try and “Marvel-ize” their properties, it seems likely that Disney might have been looking for a from-left-field “Guardians of the Galaxy” vibe, and that the "first pass" just didn't work.
After watching both the Super Bowl ad and teaser trailer for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” it at least seems possible that Disney was aiming for the “Star Wars” equivalent of James Gunn’s crew of surly criminals and misfits hunting for loot and saving the galaxy (yet the footage we see looks far less bold and comedic than “Guardians” territory).
The Super Bowl ad features images of a young Han Solo trying to become an Imperial pilot:
For those of you not familiar with “Star Wars” lore — or A.C. Crispin’s book trilogy of Han Solo books in 1997 — Solo was part of the Imperial Navy for a time.
What’s interesting about both the SB ad and teaser trailer for “Solo: A Star Wars Story” is that the early images we see look similar to the various plot lines in Crispin's trilogy.
It looks like Han (Alden Ehrenreich) is taken under the wing of a criminal/mentor-type (a character named Tobias Beckett, played by Woody Harrelson), has a love interest named Qi’Ra (Emilia Clarke), and meets Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover). Chewbacca is also along for the ride with this crew.
The teaser suggests that Han Solo has been “running scams” since he was 10. He was kicked out of flight school, but longs to be the best pilot in the galaxy.
We are treated to an image of the interior of the Millennium Falcon — brightly lit, clean, and pristine:
We have a masked villain of some sort — who looks like he could have been an extra in "Mad Max: Fury Road":
It also looks like the youthful Solo gets into some sort of “High Noon” duel with that villain:
And there is a cool looking “train” running along a snowy mountain range:
There are a number of internet prognosticators who “have a bad feeling” about this new Han Solo movie. In some respects, the early footage has a similar vibe to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” (2016’s standalone effort — read my review).
Of course, the internet was in a tizzy about "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" last December — with some fans suggesting Disney was ruining the “Star Wars” franchise (perhaps that is why the film made about $1 billion less than 2015’s “The Force Awakens”).
I loved it, by the way...
(If you’re interested, you can read my "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" review here).
I’m looking forward to seeing “Solo: A Star Wars Movie” — despite the early skepticism and extensive reshoots.
You might recall that “Rogue One” suffered a similar fate, and many fans think it is the best “Star Wars” film since “The Empire Strikes Back.”
While there wasn’t anything earth shattering about the teaser footage for “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” it does look like fun. And I wouldn’t bet against Ron Howard.
But the biggest question is whether “Solo: A Star Wars Story” will have enough juice to appease an increasingly cynical fan base.
Time will tell...
Super Bowl Ad:
Teaser Trailer:
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