'Solo: A Star Wars' Posters Stir Controversy By Removing Blasters

The Disney marketing team has had a rough few weeks in the poster department, as various posters for the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story have been called into question across social media. The most recent details that have surprised some fans is that posters for the film that will appear in Brazil have removed firearms from characters hands.

Lol, Disney is removing blasters from the Solo posters pic.twitter.com/8ZdfCDqesQ

— PanzerVor (@Panzerlied33) March 24, 2018

As you can see above, the characters' action poses have been removed for the Brazilian posters, with some users on social media believing this was Disney attempting to make a statement about the current state of gun control laws in the United States, or lack thereof. The posters are clearly for international markets, yet some thought this was the beginning of alterations to all marketing strategies across the world.

To get more information on the issue, ScreenRant reached out to Disney, confirming that these posters were specifically made for Brazil. The site hypothesizes that the change was made for the posters in that region to convey a more family-friendly tone for the upcoming film.

Given that these posters were never intended to appear in the United States, claims that this was Disney pushing any political agenda would be wild speculation.

The first character posters for Solo debuted in February, generating excitement over their pulpy aesthetic that harkened back to the early days of action-adventure films. Artist Hachim Bahous, however, noticed that they looked remarkably similar to album covers he created in 2015 that featured the exact same composition, font, and color scheme.

The posters were reportedly designed by BLT Communications, having previously created posters for Mary Poppins Returns, Thor: Ragnarok, and Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2. Disney was likely unaware of these album covers, yet, with Bahous having signed over his artwork to Sony to create the pieces, he wouldn't have had to have been contacted by Sony or Disney about the influence he had on the marketing campaign.

Only a few weeks after the posters debuted, an all-new set of posters emerged that removed the similar composition and featured images of the characters more heavily.

With only two months to go before the film's release, hopefully this is the last controversy that Disney has to deal with.

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25.

Do you think removing the blasters was a controversial decision? Let us know in the comments below!

[H/T MovieWeb]