10 Things We Learned From The First Solo: A Star Wars Story Trailer

We finally have our first look at Solo: A Star Wars Story in the form of a short TV spot and the first full teaser trailer. The prequel movie's had a very trying time of it so far, as its problems behind the scenes have been well-documented. Yet, after the firing of original directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Ron Howard shepherded the film over the finish line and things seemed to show a lot more promise. Now, we can judge that for ourselves thanks to this new footage. The trailers give us our first glimpses of Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton and more in their roles, as well as a look at a few of the set pieces and new locations that Solo will feature. Most importantly, though, they unveil Alden Ehrenreich as the young Han Solo for the first time, letting us see how well he steps into Harrison Ford's mighty boots. On a deeper level, we've combed through the footage to pick out all the most important moments and look at what they might mean for the film itself. From possible plot points to teases of some great scenes to come, join us as we take a deep dive into Solo: A Star Wars Story. Imperial Recruitment The TV spot kicks off with an unlikely scene: the young Han signing up to join the Imperial forces. The unusually peppy recruitment officer chats to Han, asking him: "So you want to make a difference?... Trust me, you're gonna love it." The officer then inquires as to what branch the young rebel is interested in joining. As we all know, Han explains that he wants to be a pilot. "The best in the galaxy," he promises, showing the bravado and cocky nature that the character is known for. Interspersed with this scene are some ominous clips of a Star Destroyer emerging from thick clouds, with lightning crackling around it. It provides a clever bit of contrast with Han's chirpy job interview. Despite the officer's attitude, Han is signing up to be part of something sinister and evil. And, as we all know, this will cause him to switch to the good side later in life. The Millennium Falcon: Inside And Out The Millennium Falcon is set to be such an important element of Solo that it's practically a character in itself. As such, the TV spot spends a lot of time introducing it. And it shows the iconic ship as we've never seen it before. Something that fans have immediately jumped on is the shot of the inside of the Millennium Falcon looking all gleaming and white. That's quite the change from the grimy, worn-out look of its corridors that we've seen in every previous Star Wars movie. Clearly, Han and Chewie aren't big on spring cleaning. Or Lando was one of those guys who likes to keep their vehicles spotless. Oddly, though, the shot we get of the Falcon's exterior contrasts with its interior. In one snippet, we see Han - possibly dressed in Imperial gear - approaching the Falcon, maybe for the first time, inside some kind of hangar. Whereas it looks brand new inside, though, the ship looks dusty and abandoned from the outside. New Locations The TV spot gives us a look at what could be a thrilling set piece in the movie. At one point, we see a strange-looking alien train or monorail of some kind which is winding through a desolate snowy landscape. A later scene returns to the same location and sees two individuals engaged in a deadly blaster battle on top of the train. It's difficult to make out, but we think this might be Woody Harrelson's character battling some unknown villain. And no, despite what every fan might be hoping, we're 100% sure that it isn't Boba Fett. Secondly, another new location is introduced in the TV spot. It seems that Solo and his pals will visit some gold-plated night club at some point in the movie, as we glimpse one such place here. Fans will be pleased to note that there are a couple of classic Star Wars aliens dancing in the club, too - namely, Twi'Leks - the green-skinned race with head-tentacles. It's Lando! Fans were always unsure about Alden Ehrenreich's casting as Han Solo, but no one seemed to have a problem when Donald Glover was announced to be playing Lando Calrissian. Now, at last, the TV spot gives us our first look at the young version of the character - who fans are dubbing "Childish Landino." And, wouldn't you know it, he looks majestic. Decked out in a big fur coat with immaculate facial hair, Glover's take on the character looks every bit the suave yet crooked criminal he's meant to be. We're sure Billy Dee Williams would be pleased that his replacement looks to be drawing a lot of inspiration from his performance. Sadly, neither the TV spot or full trailer give us any interaction between Han and Lando but hopefully, Ehrenreich and Glover are able to strike up the right kind of chemistry, just as Ford and Williams did in the original trilogy. Han And Chewie The final shot of the TV spot is sure to make Star Wars fans everywhere well-up. No matter who it is playing these characters, there's just something so heartwarming about seeing Han Solo and Chewbacca being pally, reminding us of one of the best friendships in the whole franchise. In this particular snippet, we see the pair from behind, as they look out over the sea. We've no idea what's happening, but it seems like Han might be in a dark place, so Chewie is giving his friend a pat on the back to comfort him. It'd be hard to mess it up, but it's encouraging that Solo looks to be nailing the easy affection that the two characters have for each other. Even at this early stage in their lives. In the full trailer, this is supported by another scene where Han translates Chewie's cries for the benefit for Harrelson's character. It just shows that the duo have always been on the same page from the beginning. Han's Scams And Street Racing Now onto the full-length trailer. First off, it repeats the beginning of the TV spot - briefly showing Han piloting a ship by pressing the buttons in a rhythmic manner. It then cuts to him engaging in a bit of reckless racing as he plows a podcar through an Imperial backlot. You'll note that Emilia Clarke's character (more on her in a moment) is in the car with him. Ehrenreich also provides an opening voiceover, just in case any of us aren't familiar with the sort of guy Han Solo is. "I've been running scams on the streets since I was ten," he explains, to someone unseen. "I was kicked out of the flight academy for having a mind of my own. I'm gonna be a pilot... The best in the galaxy." This narration will likely come from later on in the movie, as the overlayed scenes of Han going wild with a podcar are probably the reason he got kicked out of the academy. Though the last line seems to be taken from the moment where he signs up for the position, as seen in the TV spot. "I'm Putting Together A Crew" Though we're getting to know more details about Solo's characters as time goes on, Woody Harrelson's role is still mostly shrouded in mystery. While we haven't had this officially confirmed by Lucasfilm, which is a little odd, the actor has previously said that he's playing Beckett, a rough-around-the-edges, street-wise mentor for Han. That's supported in the trailer, too, as we see Harrelson recruiting Solo and Chewie for some kind of criminal enterprise he's pulling off. From what we can gather, they initially meet on a desert landscape before catching up later on that snowy planet seen in the TV spot. This seems to confirm our theory that Beckett is the one who's tussling with the bad guy on top of the moving train. It looks like Solo will partly take the form of a heist movie, too, as the disparate characters will be brought together by Harrelson as part of his crew. We know it already includes Han, Chewie and Lando, but let's meet the other faces who will join them... Meet Qi'Ra Game of Thrones' Emilia Clarke has been known to be the leading lady of Solo for a while, but as with Harrelson's Beckett, details on the nature of her character were kept tightly under wraps. As confirmed by a new poster, though, she's playing Qi'Ra, who it seems is some sort of noble woman who takes a liking to the titular scruffy-looking nerf herder. Sounds sort of familiar, right? If our guess at the timeline of the movie is correct, we think that Han and Qi'Ra might know each other from the Imperial flight academy, though they later meet again when Beckett recruits them both as part of his crew. They don't do anything too romantic in the trailers, but it's clear that the characters have a connection. "I might be the only person who knows what you really are," Qi'Ra tells Han, in a moment of privacy between the pair. In typical Han fashion, he shakes off her words, saying: "What's that?" That's a good question, Han. One we're intrigued to find out the answer to. The Rest Of Beckett's Crew Though they don't do much, we do get a glimpse at the rest of Beckett's crew in quick succession, which reveals just what the characters played by Thandie Newton and Phoebe Waller-Bridge look like. First of all, it was recently reported that Newton would be playing someone named Quay Tolsite. We don't know a ton about her right now, but it's fair to say that the afro-sporting Quay looks like she's one tough woman, as she's seen arming herself with a blaster in her sole appearance in the trailer. Next, we get a few shots of L3-37, the female droid who will be voiced by Waller-Bridge. By the looks of things, the character will belong to, or at least accompany, Qi'Ra, as the droid is seen following her out of a ship in one clip. There's also a small chimp-like alien who seems to be part of Beckett's crew, too. Could he be played by Star Wars stalwart Warwick Davis? "Thought We Were In Trouble There For A Second..." Funnily enough, things come full circle as the last scene featured in the trailer calls back to the beginning of the TV spot, by expanding on that shot of a Star Destroyer emerging from the lightning cloud. It seems the image is part of a big old set piece in which Han pilots the Millennium Falcon through an entire fleet of TIE fighters. With the likes of Chewie, Lando, Qi'Ra and the rest of the crew on board as well, Han successfully manages to show off his moves and narrowly avoids a shot from a fighter. He flashes a smile to his crew and says: "Thought we were in trouble there for a second but it's fine... We're fine." Cue the ship flying right into the path of a giant tentacled creature! This is the most complete scene we've been shown so far and it gives us our best feel for the tone of the movie. Going by the overt humour in this sequence, we'd imagine it's a leftover from Phil Lord and Chris Miller's time as directors but we could be wrong. Also, this moment gives us a good idea of how Ehrenreich will acquit himself as Han Solo. Honestly, we're not convinced he can live up to Harrison Ford right now, but we'll give him the benefit of the doubt until we get to see more of Solo: A Star Wars Story.