Did Ron Howard Just Tease that the Death Star will be in the Han Solo Film?

Director Ron Howard continues his trend of posting cryptic images from the set of the Han Solo spin-off film on social media, but his latest post might have just teased that an iconic location from the original film could make an appearance in the upcoming movie.

While the helmet of an Imperial accompanied with a blaster doesn’t automatically mean that we’ll see the Death Star in the new film, the placement of those items on a set of controls remind us an awful lot of controls we’ve seen aboard the space station.

We also shouldn’t necessarily jump to conclusions that the only Imperial control panels to exist in Star Wars are aboard a massive space station, but Howard’s wording of the Empire looming “large” can definitely be interpreted as a return to the space station the size of a moon.

In Star Wars, Han Solo is completely oblivious to the Death Star, so clearly his character won’t have anything to do with the space station, but it’s entirely possible that an ancillary character could potentially be connected to the location. Additionally, were the Death Star involved, that would mean Han was a major player in the smuggling game, enough to catch the attention of the Empire, as opposed to being the scoundrel who mostly cavorted with fellow pirates and bounty hunters.

Previously, Howard has teased mere glimpses of the set and the cast, not offering much in the realm of the plot, so this reveal marks the first acknowledgment that the Empire will play a part in the film’s story.

The Han Solo film will arrive in theaters on May 25, 2018.

Set prior to the events of Han Solo’s first appearance in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, the film stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Joonas Suotamo. The film is said to show how Han Solo and Chewbacca first met Lando Calrissian, played by Glover.