'Solo: A Star Wars Story' Merch Reveals Original Design of Star Destroyer Will Be Canon

One of the best parts about new Star Wars movies coming out is that fans get a new wave of [...]

By Joe Schmidt

One of the best parts about new Star Wars movies coming out is that fans get a new wave of starships to add to their collections. And much like the previous spinoff film, Solo: A Star Wars Story is looking back to the past for their new designs.

Recently unveiled at New York Toy Fair, Mattel is making new products of the upcoming ships as part of their Hot Wheels line of Star Wars toys, including one design that's straight from the page of Colin Cantwell's original designs for the Imperial Star Destroyer.

The new ship, referred to as the Arrestor Cruiser, was originally pitched to George Lucas as the design of the original cruiser. Cantwell revealed his idea to Lucas on Instagram last week, ahead of the toy's debut at the Toy Fair.

The creation of the #Stardestroyer - I asked George about the scenes. We had a few words in which he described the scenes. I then asked "Is it bigger than Burbank?" to determine the size of the Imperial Cruiser and the opening scenes of the movie. The hatch concept was developed in terms of the need of actual scenes later in the movie. In the opeing I was describing something WWII-ish of a concept with a gunner in the fuscelage. The ship was designed with a lot of thought on what the viewer would experience related to the massiveness of the ship. This involved thinking of things and creating relationships between all of the ships and their interactions with each other. George and I also discussed several other topics in which I asked qualifying questions. This gave me enough information to start designing the ships. It also gave him the information to continue with his work. I was separate from George for most of that time and worked on the final products alone. I started by creating what had to be in the middle and things were added on and so forth. I basically designed this ship and other ships around the function and the impact of the ship on the viewer. The sequence of function and the emotion and it had to feel like it was already there. When starting on a ship, I never did know what it would look like by the end. PS - those fighters in the concept illustration were the original imperial attack ships. I didn't create the #TIE until much later. See the other concepts at www.cantwellcollection.com

A post shared by Colin Cantwell (@colin_cantwell) on

It's interesting that Cantwell revealed the original designs of the attack ships, which would later become the TIE Fighters. It seems like those designs were altered a bit and used as inspiration for the Rebel Alliance's A-Wing starfighters.

Another ship revealed by the Mattel line is yet another Empire design, the Imperial Hauler. It is glimpsed in the trailer, but was also revealed as part of the leak of Solo concept art that was sold on Ebay last year.

The Hauler appears to be a cargo transport that will be used in conjunction with the Conveyex — the double-sided train that's flying through the mountains on the levitating track. We know that Han Solo and Chewbacca will be heisting something from the train in the film, and they will perhaps be making use (or coming into conflict with) one of those Haulers.

Solo: A Star Wars Story premieres May 25th.

(h/t SWNN)

0comments
Start the Conversation

of