How Han Is Different in ‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’

Throughout the course of the episodic installments in the Star Wars saga, fans have witnessed the journeys of Anakin Skywalker, Luke Skywalker, and Ben Solo, learning various details about their development into the heroes and villains they become. With the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story, some audiences are expecting to see a fully-formed Han Solo, just at a younger age, though the film’s cast and crew promise the film will deliver familiar elements of the character while also showing an all-new side of the smuggler.

“I was attracted to the idea of how this guy became the cynical on the outside, tender-hearted on the inside person we see in A New Hope,” writer Lawrence Kasdan shared with Empire. “What creates that outer shell of cynicism and what creates that core?”

Early on in the saga, Han is reluctant to do anything that might draw the Empire’s attention or that would put himself in danger. With Solo, we’re sure to see a much more emboldened character.

“He’s a brash, cocky, young guy,” director Ron Howard detailed. “And the whole movie is about struggling for freedom, struggling to throw off an institutionalized kind of oppression. It has a young rebellious energy around it.”

Harrison Ford is intrinsically linked with the character, as Solo’s charm and chemistry with other characters are difficult to separate from the actor himself. What’s important for fans to keep in mind is that star Alden Ehrenreich is merely delivering a different incarnation of Han Solo as opposed to attempting to pull off a Harrison Ford impression.

“It was always clear from the beginning, before I was involved, that it was not going to be an impression of Harrison. No one wanted that,” Howard confessed. “Part of Han Solo’s character is sort of a vibe and a feel and a body language. I think from the minute Alden knew he was doing it, he began thinking about that and working with it.”

Being set more than a decade before his first appearance in the saga, Solo will help explain how the smuggler became the character we know and love.

“He comes from a really tough background,” Ehrenreich pointed out. “He’s dreaming of a way to create a better life for himself where he has more freedom and autonomy. In this world, that means being the best criminal there is.”

Fans can judge the film for itself when Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25th.

What are you expecting with the new film? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

[H/T ComicBookMovie]