“I’ve Seen A Lot Of Strange Stuff…”
“…But I’ve never seen anything to make me believe there’s one all-powerful Force controlling everything.”
Thus, Han disparaged the Jedi and their religion during the Falcon’s fateful flight to Alderaan in A New Hope. Of course, we all know that his stance on the Force didn’t hold up, but Solo proved that his definition of “strange stuff” does. Indeed, the film included some of the most realistic and inventive alien designs in a Star Wars movie yet. Plus, a humongous, Cthulhu-esque creature called the Maw prominently featured.
Han has a confident, “been there, done that” attitude in his first cinematic appearance, and his prequels could easily – and excitingly – explain why. If situations like the Maw, and the Kessel Run overall, are everyday occurrences for Solo, how could a simple trip with an old man, a boy and two droids surprise him?
The old path that sequels tend to follow is that they go bigger and deeper into their worlds as they progress. In this sense, the next Han Solo movie should double down on those alien designs, the wildness of these worlds and the audacity of his adventures. Indeed, a follow-up to Solo has the chance to really color in Han and Chewie’s lives prior to their introduction in A New Hope.
Though we must draw the line at Han fighting huge, talking otters, the writers and creature designers should really continue to push the boat out in the next installment. And speaking of vessels…