Harrison Ford Addresses If Han Solo Will Return in Star Wars

Star Wars fans waited a long time to see Harrison Ford return as Han Solo in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and were shocked when the character died at the hands of his son. But with death being only a small obstacle in the Star Wars universe, many have held out hope that he could return.

While the actor has said before that he would rather not reprise the character, Harrison Ford addressed the question again recently on Live! with Kelly and Ryan. Host Ryan Seacrest asked Ford if Han would return in the future, and Ford explained why it couldn’t and shouldn’t happen. Check out the interview in the video above.

“He’s dead,” Ford said.

While Kelly Ripa pointed out that they’d tried to kill Han off before and cited the character famously being frozen in carbonite in The Empire Strikes Back, Ford dismissed that as an attempt to kill the character. He then went on to explain that the idea of Han dying wasn’t new. He had been looking for a way out of the role for some time.

“I’d been begging to die for the cause for a couple of years,” he explained. “I thought Han Solo’s got no mama, got no papa, doesn’t believe in the Force. What can we do here? What’s his ultimate utility? To sacrifice himself for others. Well, they figured a different idea, but it worked for them, worked for me, and brought on some fresh horses.”

In a sense, Han did sacrifice himself for others. In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Han attempted to convince his son, Kylo Ren, not to fire on the Resistance base on D’Qar and implored him to abandon the dark side. Despite Ren refusing and then killing Han, Chewbacca is able to set off explosives allowing the Resistance to destroy Starkiller Base, a victory made bittersweet by Han’s death.

Of course, even with Ford’s insistence that Han is truly gone, fans refuse to give up hope that everyone’s favorite smuggler-turned-hero will return and that includes Ripa.

“OK, so we’ll see you soon in the new Star Wars,” the host quipped.