Solo: A Star Wars Story Fixes A Continuity Error From The Original Trilogy

In providing a prequel for the galaxy’s favorite smuggler, Solo: A Star Wars Story essentially served as a series of mini-origin stories for all the little details of Han’s previous screen outings, from the character’s Kessel Run brag in A New Hope, to his friendship with Chewie. Even the the gap at the front of the Millennium Falcon got its own explanation, whether we asked for it or not, and going by this recent reveal, it wasn’t the only feature of the ship that got some clarification in the Star Wars spinoff.

In a new video from ABC News, visual effects supervisor Rob Bredow explains how Solo retroactively fixes a continuity error from the original trilogy. The problem was one of leg numbers. In A New Hope, the Falcon is shown to have three legs, but in The Empire Strikes Back, that number goes up to five.

Bredow, however, recalls how over the course of Solo, the number starts off as five before getting shaved down by two when the Falcon scrapes a solid surface at a high speed while its landing legs are still out. The implication here is that Han’s ship was still missing those two extra legs during the events of A New Hope, before having the repairs done before the events of the next movie. It’s a fix for an error that most viewers wouldn’t have even noticed, but as far as unnecessary origins go, we’ll still take it over the explanation for Han’s last name.

Sadly, while Solo: A Star Wars Story took the time to pay homage to the past, the film’s underwhelming box office returns have seriously hurt the chances of this corner of the galaxy having its own future. With even the flick’s writer having real doubts about a sequel happening anytime soon, it seems that this little spinoff series may too have lost its legs.