Disney and Lucasfilm finally unveiled the first footage from Solo: A Star Wars Story during Super Bowl 52 Sunday, ahead of the full trailer premiering on Monday’s Good Morning America on ABC.
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The newest Star Wars standalone and origin story for legendary smuggler-turned-Rebellion-hero Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) — who was famously portrayed by Harrison Ford in the original Star Wars trilogy and The Force Awakens — Solo tells an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy.
Through a series of daring escapades deep within a dark and dangerous criminal underworld, Han Solo meets his mighty future copilot Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) and encounters the notorious gambler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover), in a journey that will set the course of one of the Star Wars saga’s most unlikely heroes.
A New Look at a Young Empire
The trailer starts with a fresh look at a young and bustling Galactic Empire, who were at their prime in A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back before their eventual defeat in Return of the Jedi.
Much like his since-discarded origin story as seen in the Star Wars Expanded Universe, Han attempts to enlist for military service and aims to become a pilot. “The best in the galaxy,” Han says.
Like with Rogue One — set just before the events of A New Hope — the classic Empire aesthetic and its old school Stormtroopers are almost nostaglia porn, but they make for necessary set dressing in a tale taking place in the seedier side of the Star Wars universe.
The Empire is Just as Imposing as Ever
The Empire aren’t just back, they’re as imposing as ever: a hulking Star Destroyer is seen emerging ominously out of a burst of lightning, with the storm serving as a moody backdrop as TIE Fighters are deployed for reasons unknown.
How sexy is the Bradford Young’s cinematography? Young served as DP on 2016 sci-fi hit Arrival, and he brings that A-game to a galaxy far, far away.
Solo‘s aesthetic is on par with Rogue One more than any other Star Wars movie so far, looking reminiscent of Blade Runner 2049. It’s both grimy-looking and sleek — the perfect look and feel for a trip into the galaxy’s underbelly.
A Fresh and Cleaned Up Millennium Falcon
Where most of the world of Solo looks gritty and lived in, the Millennium Falcon stands as a direct contrast. Like the inside of a Porsche showroom, a glance inside the iconic starship shows pristine, untouched halls, shiny, reflective floors — it’s so neat and sterile it looks nothing like the dirty and worn-down innards the clunky but reliable ship is known for in its later years.
Speeder Action
Han puts the pedal to the metal and leaves explosive destruction in his wake from behind the wheel of a speeder, reintroducing some high-speed action not seen since the famous podracing scene in Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace.
Look closely and you’ll spot Han’s speeder isn’t just off on a joyride: he’s being chased. Han evading pursuers in a speeder — one that conjures the imagery of an old school dragster — makes for an exciting prospect, like a car chase with a Star Wars twist.
Emilia Clarke’s Qi’Ra Revealed
The TV spot brought fans their first official look at a brand new character never before seen in the Star Wars universe: Qi’Ra, played by Game of Thrones‘ Emilia Clarke.
Little is known about Qi’Ra, but a recently spotted action figure sees her brandishing a blaster: no damsel in distress here.
Going off Lucasfilm’s dedication to depicting strong female characters, expect Qi’Ra to be able to hold her own against the roguish smuggler and his dangerous enemies.
Han Shoots First
Speaking of dangerous enemies, we can spot Han firing away at a masked figure on top of a train-like vehicle as it snakes through snowy mountains.
It goes quick, but the enemy appears to be wielding a staff and seems to be this guy seen next to the Lando figure. We don’t know if the opponent is the film’s villain or a henchman, but he looks threatening — and he’s totally unphased by Han’s blasters, making for quite the predicament for our hero.
Once fans get a better look at this guy, expect to see him become a cosplay favorite.
First Look at Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett
We’re also given our first look at Tobias Beckett, played by Venom‘s Woody Harrelson.
Harrelson initially described his character as “kind of a criminal and a mentor to Han,” but later clarified his comments in an interview with ComicBook.com.
“I don’t know if mentor is really the right word, you know,” Harrelson said. “I’m a criminal who he gets to know, and I guess, probably, I do have some influence on him. But I’m a criminal.”
Where Beckett’s loyalties truly lie ultimately remains to be seen, but Harrelson has portrayed plenty of villains…
Han Solo Meets the Millennium Falcon
Some smoggy docking bay seems to be the first place Han Solo sets eyes on the Millennium Falcon.
The ship rests, illuminated only by runway lights, as Han approaches and looks up at the ship that will, in time, come to be his most prized possession.
We can’t say definitively this is the first time Han meets the Falcon — but it sure looks like it.
Solo is expected to show Han win the ship from Lando, a feat he accomplished “fair and square.”
Lando Calrissian Looking Like a Bad Mother (Shut Your Mouth)
Fans got a new look at Lando Calrissian looking as smooth and as fly as you would imagine a young Lando to look, played here by Spider-Man: Homecoming‘s Donald Glover.
“This is probably one of my favorite experiences ever,” Glover told Deadline of stepping into the iconic role, first filled by Billy Dee Williams.
“I get to play him in a way that I think is honest and true and cool. And it’s great ’cause I didn’t have to write anything, I’m focused strictly on being this guy. And I really respect him and I respect the actor who played him before.”
Glover, who acknowledged “you want to live up to the expectation, but you can only live up to your own,” says he remembered Lando fondly as “the only Black guy in space.”
“And he was the cool one,” Glover said. “I just realized, he still has to be cool.”
Nailed it.
Han and Chewie Reunited
A grizzled Han would meet his tragic end in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, struck down by his only son, Ben Solo (Adam Driver). Han’s murder deeply upset longtime companion Chewbacca, who he decades ago swore a life debt to, with the Wookiee quietly mourning his lost friend in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Solo will show how the iconic co-pilots first formed their unbreakable bond, and though it will be the first time they’re coming together in-universe, it’s also the first time we’re seeing the duo together since Han was cut down and killed — without so much as a body to bury.
Chewie wrapping his arm around Han in the last shot of the Super Bowl TV spot is like a heavier spin on the now-iconic “Chewie, we’re home,” uttered by a much older but entirely recognizable Han Solo in the last moments of that first Force Awakens teaser.
Directed by Ron Howard and starring Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Joonas Suotamo, Thandie Newton, Paul Bettany, and Woody Harrelson, Solo: A Star Wars Story opens May 25.
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(Photo by Bruce Glikas/Bruce Glikas/FilmMagic)
