As of this week, it’s now officially been a year since Solo: A Star Wars Story hit theaters. At the time, critical reception could best be described as lukewarm, and its box office run didn’t stand a chance against that summer’s Avengers: Infinity War. Even though most fans commended Alden Ehrenreich’s take on the renowned smuggler, Disney and Lucasfilm wrote the film off as a failure, scrapping any and all ideas for big screen standalone character spinoffs.
Yet, even after its lackluster performance, Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo previously revealed that fan demand could make a sequel happen, tweeting his support of the recent #MakeSolo2Happen social media campaign. Now, he’s doubling down on his support, sharing an image of Uncle Sam pointing at the reader, captioned, “I want you to make Solo 2 happen.” Underneath, he writes:
“To my “Solo: A Star Wars Story” fans: I hear you. I see you. I feel you. ”
To my "Solo: A Star Wars Story" fans: I hear you. I see you. I feel you. 😉 #MakeSolo2Happen! #StarWars #Solo #chewbacca #chewie #hansolo #joonassuotamo pic.twitter.com/z8AYk0gwVi
— Joonas Suotamo (@JoonasSuotamo) June 5, 2019
Of course, Suotamo is far from the only Solo crew member to share support for the sequel campaign. Director Ron Howard, who believes Internet trolls led to the film’s paltry box office gross, shared images of fans wearing #MakeSolo2Happen shirts at last month’s Star Wars Celebration. The director, who took the helm of the movie after Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired, was very vocal in continuing the franchise prior to its release.
Solo writer Jake Kasdan also revealed that he has plans for future installments, which would reintroduce the Hutts and establish their rivalry with Darth Maul’s Crimson Dawn. In fact, Maul’s surprise reveal may be the most unfortunate causality of the standalone’s cancellation, as it was clear the Sith Lord was going to get another chance in the spotlight after his lackluster death in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace.
It’s a shame we’re likely not going to see a Solo: A Star Wars Story follow-up for quite some time, as Maul’s cameo was one of the movie’s numerous plot threads still dangling for a sequel to pick up. While there’s always a chance a future Disney Plus series could feature resolutions to characters like Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra or Donald Glover’s younger Lando, perhaps the #MakeSolo2Happen campaign will lead to a proper send-off on the big screen one day. Fingers crossed, eh?