May the fourth be with Solo

Every year on May 4, many Star Wars fans around the world find themselves saying to each other “May the fourth be with you.”

These fans often relay this pun while thinking of the famous Star Wars quote: “May the force be with you.” Despite the holiday never officially being declared, it is still celebrated by its loving fandom. Let it be listening to the soundtrack, wearing Star Wars graphic shirts, or rewatching the movies, fans always find a way to celebrate their favorite movie series.

However, the way fans look at Star Wars has now been slightly altered after Disney’s release of the three new Star Wars movies. Episode seven, released in 2015, and eight, released 2017, introduced a whole new cast of characters and a new plot. Although the new episodes featured characters from the original trilogy, they will not be shown alive in any future episodes.

The most recent Star Wars story diverged drastically from the original movies. Although the movies are still action-packed and explorative of the Star Wars universe, they are definitely more comedic than the originals.

“I like the newer versions of the Star Wars movies with the mix of action and comedy,” senior Griffin Hernalsteen said.

This new version of Star Wars is more appealing to the newer audiences and is what separates the new movies from the old. However, many fans are split over this and some other decisions Disney has made. Most prominent is the production of Han Solo’s backstory, “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

On May 25, “Solo: A Star Wars Story” will premiere in theaters, but it is already getting more attention from fans than anticipated.

Production:

What fans are most worried about is how the iconic Han Solo will be portrayed by Alden Ehrenreich. However, there are still many other details needing to be taken into consideration when making a movie about Han Solo.

Even before Disney bought Lucasfilm, many backstories about Han Solo and Chewie were already made. If Disney was to create an entire new story, they would be leaving behind all of the existing novels about Han Solo. Books like “The Han Solo Adventures” by Brian Daley and “Corellian Trilogy” by Roger MacBride Allen depict different versions of Han Solo’s background and life after “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi.” Although some stories made were not based off the original series, a large amount of Star Wars’ lore derives from the novels before it.

“I wish Disney would shed more light on how Han and Chewy met,” sophomore Kevin Lumani said, “but it would also be nice if they referenced the original books.”

    Sadly, most of the problems the movie actually faced was internal. Three weeks before the shooting for the movie ended, the original co-directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller were fired for “clashing creatively” with the studio boss, Kathleen Kennedy. After the conflict, Ron Howard was hired to finish filming for the movie.

    If this wasn’t enough to push the budget off the edge, reportedly midway through production, they were forced to hire an acting coach for the star, Alden Ehrenreich, and reshoot up to 80 percent of the movie.

Another problem fans noticed was Ehrenreich’s appearance; he doesn’t exactly strict one as the iconically handsome and roguish “Han Solo.”

In “Star Wars: A New Hope,” Harrison Ford was 35 while Ehrenreich is 28 in the filming of Solo. However, the two look too different for there to be just a decade difference, so Ehrenreich will most likely be depicted as younger in the movie.

Despite the Solo movie having its highs and lows in production, the defining moment will be when it hits the theaters. People will have to see it, whether a fan or not, just to see what all the excitement is about. No doubt the Han Solo movie will be nothing like fans have seen before.

Plot predictions:

Trailers and interviews point that the movie would depict Han Solo, played by Alden Ehrenreich, winning the Millenium Falcon from Lando Calrissian, played by Donald Glover. However, this will probably be just one plot point and not the whole movie.

“I’m excited to be seeing Donald Glover as Lando,” senior Griffin Hernalsteen said.

Although the movie’s plot is unclear, it is clear that the movie will answer Star Wars fan’s biggest question: How did Han Solo and Chewbacca become friends?

Because the movie will depict how Han became a smuggler, fans can expect to see how Han befriended Chewbacca-and maybe even see how Chewbacca got his nickname “Chewie.”
    Instead of jumping straight into all of the adventures Han Solo had, fans are looking forward to seeing how Han developed into the snarky and cool character seen in the original trilogy.

“I’m excited to see Han Solo’s backstory and how he became so famous as a smuggler,” sophomore Dylan Sygit said.

From just the trailer, it is already clear that Solo: A Star Wars Story” will be action-packed and separate from the normal Star Wars universe. Similar to “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story,” the Solo movie will stand on its own. Hopefully, the Solo movie will satisfy fans until the release of episode nine in 2019.

For now, Star Wars fans will be forced to wait on the film’s release on May 25, in a galaxy far far away… or in a theater near you.