Ron Howard Shares First Tease of Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo

09/06/2017 08:37 pm EDT

Director Ron Howard's embrace of social media to give his fans an inside look at filming the untitled Han Solo spinoff is equally exciting as it is frustrating, offering glimpses of the cast and set while perfectly obscuring key components. Howard has continued this trend by potentially showing his followers one of our first looks at Alden Ehrenreich as the iconic smuggler.

In the photo, it appears as though Ehrenreich is sitting towards the bottom of the frame, with his jaw being obscured by someone in suspenders. While it's definitely possible that this is merely any member of the cast or crew, the figure's profile certainly looks similar to the actor's and, of course, his glorious head of hair looks like the perfect match for Solo.

Earlier this year, photos leaked from the set showed off grainy photos of the actor, with no hints of when official assets, or even a title, could potentially be revealed.

Back in June, Lucasfilm shocked Star Wars fans with the announcement that Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the minds behind the 21 Jump Street films and The Lego Movie, were parting ways from the spinoff. Since Howard took over filming back in July, he has been sharing a variety of behind-the-scenes photos and videos from the set, often keeping the main cast out of focus or out of the shot completely. The strategy was potentially meant as a distraction, aiming to give hope to fans who thought the project was doomed following the change of creative leadership.

On Tuesday afternoon, another shock came from Lucasfilm, who announced that Colin Trevorrow would no longer be directing Episode IX. A big difference between his departure and Lord and Miller's is that The Last Jedi hasn't even been released, with production on the final film in the sequel trilogy most likely not beginning until next year. Lord and Miller, on the other hand, reportedly only had a few weeks of shooting left.

If Lucasfilm was hoping to distract fans from the worrying press and get back in their good graces, now would be a great time to shed more light on the Han Solo film.

The untitled Han Solo spinoff lands in theaters May 25, 2018.

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