‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Novelization Includes Deleted Tag and Bink Scene

While many stories in the Star Wars Expanded Universe were deemed non-canonical when Disney purchased Lucasfilm, various new endeavors have borrowed elements from the SWEU to make them officially canon. Solo: A Star Wars Story almost made comic book characters Tag and Bink canon, though the scene was ultimately cut. Luckily, the film’s novelization includes the scene, an excerpt of which appeared on StarWars.com.

The scene takes place after Han enlists in the Imperial Academy and is forced to confront his superiors, with Tag and Bink appearing in the scene. The novelization confirmed Han’s history with the duo, reading, “Once upon a time, Han had attempted to befriend them, but they turned out to be such colossal screwups, Han started to avoid them before they got him or themselves killed. Still, he needed all the friends he could get. He gave them a little wave and a grin. They looked back at him wryly and said nothing.”

In the finished film, the narrative jumps quickly from Han enlisting in the Academy to being in the throes of battle on Mimban. Jonathan Kasdan previously revealed that all of Solo‘s drafts included more time being spent with the smuggler in the Academy.

“One of the things we went back and forth on a lot is that both Larry [Kasdan, co-writer] and I felt that it was important to see Han in the Imperial Academy, in the Navy, because we wanted to see him become this pilot,” Kasdan shared with ComicBook.com. “And from the first draft through the last draft, there was a chunk of the movie — Very short. Like, I’d say 80 seconds long — That showed him in the Imperial Academy doing some sort of flight things, sort of disobeying a direct order, and getting kicked out.”

In fact, Kasdan and first AD played Tag and Bink. Ultimately, director Ron Howard cut the scene, which is even more surprising given that Howard’s wife appeared in the scene as well.

“We were so sure, too, that Ron actually put his wife, Cheryl, who has to be in all his movies because it’s his only superstition, into the scene because he’s like, ‘Well, this is the one thing that isn’t coming out,’” Kasdan confirmed. “And then it did come out, and Ron had to get Cheryl over to Disney and CGI her into another shot just so we weren’t cursed. So, when I think you’ll see Tag and Bink is on the Blu-ray, because no way we’re putting that on Blu-ray without the Imperial Academy sequence. It’s a great sequence, too.”

The Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization hits shelves on September 4th. Solo hits Blu-ray on September 25th.

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[H/T StarWars.com]