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Han Solo: Lawrence Kasdan Reveals New Info Regarding ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 23:09 PST, Jan 7, 2016

Even though Star Wars: The Force Awakens recently overtook Avatar to become the highest grossing film (domestically) of all time, fans are already focusing on the next installments in the legendary saga, perhaps none more so than the long awaited spin-off featuring Han Solo. In a new interview, Lawrence Kasdan, the scribe behind some of the most highly respected installments in the series, has revealed a few details regarding our first new-canon look into the Corellian smuggler’s past, and what it will entail.

Kasdan addressed the Han Solo movie while speaking with Empire (the source of much Star Wars-related info in the lead-up to the release of The Force Awakens). He will be tackling the script for the film in conjunction with his son, Jon Kasdan, working to shed light on the background of the man he calls his favorite Star Wars character. While fans have roundly speculated that the spin-off will show Solo as a young man, Kasdan seemed to quash those rumors, instead suggesting that the movie will address a character that never quite reaches a stage of being fully formed.

“It will not be here’s where he was born and this is how he was raised. I think what it will be is, what was he like 10 years earlier, maybe a little earlier, you’ll get a glimpse… Kurosawa once said the heroes are the ones that are still changing and the villains are locked and petrified into what they are. And Harrison embodies in ‘Force Awakens’ someone who is still not settled on who he is.”

Fans have serious reason to be excited that Kasdan is the man behind the Han Solo film, as he also had a hand in perennial favorite The Empire Strikes Back, as well as Return of the Jedi and, more recently, The Force Awakens. He wasn’t always going to be involved in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, though he was under consideration for it even before Lucasfilm’s high-profile acquisition by Disney.

Kathleen Kennedy and George Lucas approached Kasdan prior to that sale, as IndieWire relates, though he felt some initial hesitation about getting involved. According to Kasdan, he was relieved when Michael Arndt was hired to pen the seventh installment in the core Star Wars saga. Lucasfilm revealed to him the other stories they wanted to produce in the Star Wars universe, and according to Kasdan, the Han Solo movie stood out to him, largely due to his affinity for the character.

Kasdan was initially working only as a consultant on The Force Awakens, until it became clear that Arndt’s vision for the film wasn’t exactly what Disney and Lucasfilm wanted. At that point, he stepped in to assist, entering into a period of intense writing with Abrams that lasted two years, even though the duo were able to produce their first draft in just six weeks.

Despite the fact that the ending to Han Solo’s story is now firmly ensconced in Star Wars lore, the past is still rich territory for the character, with more than a few adventures left to tell. As Nerdist points out, the Han Solo film could potentially reveal the character’s first run-in with stalwart companion Chewbacca, or his temporary falling-out with later Rebellion leader and Death Star assassin Lando Calrissian. Perhaps most interestingly, the story could address how Han first came into possession of the iconic “home” he is reunited with in The Force Awakens, the Millennium Falcon.

Whatever Kasdan’s vision for the movie, Star Wars fans are already eagerly anticipating their next meeting with Han Solo when the film hits theaters in 2018.

[Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images for Walt Disney Studios]

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