Solo: A Star Wars Story changed the course of the franchise, though probably not in the way Lucasfilm envisioned. Prior to this the production company was gung-ho about releasing a new movie in the franchise each year, with future Anthology entries planned for Obi-Wan Kenobi and Boba Fett. Then, after a production nightmare that saw Phil Lord and Chris Miller replaced with Ron Howard, the film slid into theaters and was a surprise box office disappointment.
Disney and Lucasfilm slammed the brakes on any in-development projects, both of which ended up reworked as Disney Plus shows. The dangling sequel hooks baked into Solo were never followed up on, and Alden Ehrenreich wasn’t called back to reprise the role.
To be fair, Solo isn’t a terrible movie, and still has its fans. There’s been a long campaign to “Make Solo 2 happen,” and though it shows no signs of bearing fruit, stranger things have happened. Solo writer Lawrence Kasdan and producer Rob Bredow have just released their Willow series, and ComicBook asked them if they’d return to the Millennium Falcon, as well as what they thought of the campaign, with the latter sharing his enthusiasm.
“I love it. Bring it. That’s what we want to hear. I had so much fun on Solo. And well, we have a number of people who worked on that show here today. Jon Kasdan, Ron Howard. All of us love that world, love that team. I think it’s happened before, right? The fans have brought things back, so I think it really is up to the fans what we do next.”
Kasdan certainly thinks Solo 2 could happen, admitting; “It’s possible. Who knows. You can’t predict.”
Lucasfilm hasn’t completely abandoned the Solo characters since 2018. Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra has appeared in several Marvel Star Wars comics, recently squaring off against the Emperor himself in the ongoing Hidden Empire storyline. Beyond that, a Lando Calrissian show starring Donald Glover is still theoretically in development, though we haven’t heard any updates on it for a very long time.
Right now, Solo 2 looks like it isn’t going to happen, but who knows what the future might hold? With many Star Wars stories set in the period between Revenge of the Sith and A New Hope, perhaps Ehrenreich’s Han might pop up again for a very special guest appearance?