Now that the dust is beginning to settle from The Last Jedi, and writer-director Rian Johnson has answered every question and query under the twin suns of Tattooine, Lucasfilm is beginning to double down on its promotional campaign for Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Pegged for a theatrical release on May 25th, the Ron Howard-directed anthology pic is unique in that it’s set between the events of Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope – and before Rogue One, as a recent Star Wars timeline confirmed. But for many, the promise of uncovering Han Solo’s origins is enough to catapult Solo straight to the tip-top of 2018’s list of most-anticipated movies – second only to Avengers: Infinity War, of course.
And make no mistake, the hype train has officially left the Corellian station, as a suite of international character posters for Solo: A Star Wars Story have now emerged online via Twitter. Embedded below, they draw attention to the four primary anti-heroes of Ron Howard’s rip-roaring adventure: Han, Chewie, Lando and the enigmatic Qi’Ra.
They’re the lawless rogues of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and fans of Lucasfilm’s space opera will know all too well that Chewie and the ice-cool Lando Calrissian have a marked effect on Han’s upbringing. As for Emilia Clarke’s Qi’Ra, she’s an old friend of the titular smuggler – an old-fashioned femme fatale with a “core of steel.” So it’s only fitting that each is given a character poster of their own.
Elsewhere on the Solo casting docket is Val, Dryden Vos and Tobias Beckett – three ambiguous strays brought to life Thandie Newton (Westworld), Paul Bettany (Avengers: Infinity War), and Woody Harrelson (Venom). Suffice it to say, Ron Howard and his team have brought together a staggering amount of talent for Lucasfilm’s second Star Wars anthology movie. The question, really, is whether the film can become more than the sum of its parts.