Han Solo died – killed by his own son, in fact – back in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which seemed to suggest Harrison Ford’s tenure as the iconic character was over. Especially as Alden Ehrenreich took over as the smuggler in his early days for Solo. However, Ford shocked us all by returning as Han, likely for one last time, in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, with the form of his spirit talking Ben Solo back towards the light.
While speaking to USA Today, the legendary actor remarked that he was just as surprised as the fans to be appearing as Solo for the fifth time. He puts his return down to director J.J. Abrams though, who managed to convince him to travel to that galaxy far, far away once more.
“When JJ asked me to do it, I said, ‘Are you kidding? I’m dead!’ He said, ‘Sorta dead. You can do this.’ He hadn’t written anything at that time. But he said, ‘This is going to be great.’ So I said okay. If JJ asked you do something, you’d probably do it too. He’s a very persuasive guy.”
As for exactly how Abrams persuaded him, Ford explained that he agreed to come back as his cameo was so key to the evolution of Kylo Ren and his redemption arc. Plus, he really enjoys working with Adam Driver.
“It was a useful addition to the story and the continuing development of Adam Driver’s character. And the chance to do another scene with Adam was great.”
Emotionally, Han’s return hit home. However, the nature of it’s caused fans some headaches. Was Han just a figment of Kylo’s guilty conscience? Or was he a Force ghost, which would rewrite some of the rules of SW mythology? When asked for his take on this, Ford gave a characteristically curmudgeonly reply, saying:
“A Force ghost? I don’t know what a Force ghost is,” Ford admitted, before adding in a whisper. “Don’t tell anyone. I’m not talking loud enough for your recorder. I have no (expletive) idea what a Force ghost is. And I don’t care!”
Going by what we know about earlier versions of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, it seems that Han’s return only came about after the passing of Carrie Fisher necessitated bringing Ben’s other parent back for a heart-to-heart instead. It was the right thing to do with the character, though, as it gave him a more positive final scene than his murder in TFA.
