So I came home from work today and the first thing I see on Twitter is a hashtag trending that I can definitely get behind: #MakeSolo2Happen
While it may not be my favourite film, I really enjoyed Solo: A Star Wars Story and would probably put it in my top 4 Star Wars movies. I certainly found myself worried before the film came out that I wouldn’t connect with Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover as Han Solo and Lando Calrissian respectively, but I found myself fully on board with their portrayals, especially Alden’s. While there were moments that I wasn’t so keen on (like how Han got his surname) there were plenty of awesome moments to allow me to overlook that, such as the reveal of Maul as the real head of Crimson Dawn.
Personally, I never felt Solo‘s relatively poor box office was a fair reflection of the film, but instead due to the film being a victim of circumstance. Releasing the film in May rather than December was a monumental error. There was no time to effectively market the movie after The Last Jedi, leaving many people not interested in a Han Solo movie that didn’t include Harrison Ford, while also not doing enough to overcome the very public dismissal of Lord & Miller, leading to heavy re-shoots. Not only that, but the May release left the film competing with the much-anticipated Deadpool 2 and the blockbuster Avengers: Infinity War, which also meant that promotional toys could not get pride of place due to the MCU focus. Finally, the film found itself coming out hot on the heels of perhaps the most divisive Star Wars film and into a new world where Star Wars fandom hit a new low. Had this film come out in December, in line with the other movies, then I am sure it would have performed miles better.
For that reason, I think that these characters and actors deserve another shot, in the form of Solo 2! There are so many more stories that can be told: Qi’ra’s work with Maul running Crimson Dawn (we know that in less than 10 years, he will be left abandoned on Malachor, but have no idea how or why); Han and Chewie’s early work for Jabba the Hutt, which could also reintroduce bounty hunters like Boba Fett, IG-88, Bossk and Embo; Han’s growing friendship with Lando; Enfys Nest’s ongoing fight against the criminal gangs; Han and Chewie’s friendship with Maz Kanata. It could also bring other cartels and gangs from the wider canon into the films: Black Sun, the Crymorah, the Droid Gotra and also bring in potential characters like Hondo Ohnaka and Sana Starros.
That’s a lot to ask for one movie and to be honest, if we can’t get a sequel movie, I love the idea of a live-action series focusing on the criminal underworld as a whole that includes some of these characters we know, as this would allow us to follow a number of characters in stories that only occasionally overlap – similar to what we often had in the earlier seasons of Game of Thrones. However, there are stories here that should be on the big screen getting the recognition they deserve!
So dear Lucasfilm, make Solo 2 happen!
The Canon Padawan 