While there are many factors that may have contributed to Solo: A Star Wars Story bombing at the box office, one element that surely didn’t help was that the Han Solo standalone film was arriving in cinemas just a few months after the franchise’s last release, giving Disney little time to build anticipation for the movie and establish its must-see credentials. Even Disney CEO Bob Iger admitted to The Hollywood Reporter last year that the Star Wars release schedule was too densely packed, and as it turns out, Mark Hamill feels much the same way.
In an interview with Den of Geek, the actor recalled how he voiced his objections to Disney about their decision not to space out their releases, explaining that he can afford to give his bosses a little lip because of who he is:
“In our day, it was three years apart. Now they’re two years apart, with an independent movie (Rogue One, Solo) in between. I say to the executives at Disney, ‘Really? Han Solo five months after our movie? Give it a rest!’ They say, well, we have to keep the schedule clear for Mary Poppins. But I can be mouthy, because you know, what are they gonna do, fire me?”
Another development that Hamill took issue with was the choice to kill of Han Solo in The Force Awakens, ensuring that there’d never be a reunion between the three stars of the Original Trilogy:
“I just thought, Luke’s never going to see his best friend again. You look at it in a self-centred way. I said that it was a big mistake that those three people would never reunite in any way. I guess I was wrong, because nobody seems to care! I have to stipulate that I care, but it didn’t really seem to affect the larger audience. Luke, Han and Leia will never be together again, and I’ll probably never get to work with Harrison again.”
Based on previous statements from Harrison Ford, the star was more than happy to end his arc where it did, but all the same, it’s strange to think that the Sequel Trilogy never took the opportunity to bring Han, Luke and Leia together, especially with a director as famously nostalgic as J.J. Abrams at the helm.
Nonetheless, despite Luke’s death in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Hamill is confirmed to be reprising his role for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX. Whether this comeback happens via flashbacks or Force Ghost remains to be seen, but at the very latest, we’ll find out when the film hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
