New Details Emerge About the Smugglers of 'Solo: A Star Wars Story'

With the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story finally out, fans are starting to get a better [...]

With the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story finally out, fans are starting to get a better sense of the film's cast of characters and that includes its rogue's gallery of smugglers.

In a new interview with Entertainment Weekly, screenwriters Lawrence and Jon Kasdan and director Ron Howard open up about three of the smugglers Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) will cross paths with and be influenced by in the film -- Woody Harrelson's Tobias Beckett, Thandie Newton's Val, and Paul Bettany's Dryden Vos. While each of the characters will have an influence on the young Han, according to Howard it's Beckett that has the largest impact.

"Well, he really shapes Han really more than anybody, as Han comes to realize that in a lawless time he needs to try to come to terms with some kind of moral code," Howard explains of Harrelson's character that was inspired by Robert Louis Stevenson's Treasure Island, specifically the pirate Long John Silver and his relationship with the young Jim Hawkins.

"Han sort of forces himself into Woody's [Beckett's] life," Lawrence Kasdan said. "It starts a relationship that has enormous impact on what kind of person Han will be."

As for how Han comes into contact with Beckett to begin with, that's part of what Newton's mysterious Val is for. While Jon Kasdan wouldn't reveal much about Val beyond her being part of a criminal family with ties to Beckett, he did say that Val isn't impressed with Han.

"I will say at first glance, doesn't necessarily have total faith in Han -- as a lot of people he meets in his life tend to feel about him," John Kasdan said. "She's a little skeptical of this kid when she meets him. And her relationship with him goes in, I think, an ... interesting direction."

Perhaps the most interesting -- and potentially most dangerous -- of the smuggler underworld, though, is Bettany's Dryden Voss. While both Beckett and Val are formidable in their own right, Voss is coming from a more elevated place.

They're just in slight different places," Jon says, going on to explain that while there's not really leadership in the smuggler underworld, Voss is doing quite well for himself as compared to others. "There's no hierarchy. There are some that are in power, and there's some that are scrambling to stay alive."

While this information does shed a little bit of light on the characters Han will encounter in Solo, it's interesting to note that it doesn't really shed any light on some of the films other possible villains, nor does it shed any light on whether fans can expect to see Boba Fett in the film. A silhouette strongly resembling the iconic Mandalorian armor that Boba Fett wears was spotted in the background of an on-set photo Howard shared of himself and Bettany last fall leading many to speculate the galactic bounty hunter might have a cameo in the film.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now in theaters. Solo: A Star Wars Story arrives on May 25, 2018; Star Wars: Episode IX follows on December 20, 2019.

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