Why It’s Important for Harrison Ford to Return as Han Solo


02/21/13 12:03am
5 Comments

Shortly after the Disney acquisition of LucasFilm, and the subsequent announcement of the continuation of the Star Wars saga with Episode VII, several rumors began to fly around that the original cast would be willing to star in the next chapter. As of Friday, Harrison Ford was rumored to have signed on to reprise his role as the one-and-only Han Solo. There have been several different opinions circling the announcement, but I maintain that this is one of the most important plays made by Disney yet, not only for the franchise, but for the fans as well.

What does it mean for the franchise?

First off, I doubt it is any secret that Harrison Ford loathed Star Wars. He has been quoted saying that he found the character of Han Solo to be bland and boring, and that George Lucas was worried more about toy sales than character and plot development. He even advocated for the death of Han Solo in Return of
Han Solothe Jedi. I bring all this up to say, that despite the fact that he may hate the
movies and he may hate his character, he’s still considering coming back to complete Han’s story. Maybe it’s for the money, maybe it’s for all of his grandkids who are surely fans, but that’s not what matters. What matters is that his return paves the way for the rest of the original cast to return as well. With Harrison Ford back, other cast members like Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, and Peter Mayhew are all pretty much guaranteed to be in Episode VII as well, and that’s great for the Star Wars franchise because that makes the fans happy. And if the fans are happy, then we don’t riot and burn DisneyLand to the ground…

What does it mean for us?

This news is great for fans for a lot of reasons. First, more Han Solo. More specifically, more Harrison Ford as Han Solo, arguably one of his greatest roles. Second, no recasting. I have no desire to ever see another human being play Han Solo. Harrison Ford has been the only Han Solo for 36 years, and he should ALWAYS be the only Han Solo. Among the many rumors flying about, there has been talk of a Young Han Solo spinoff. Why? Why does this need to happen? In A New Hope Han Solo is 29 years old, if they were going to make him younger, would that make him a teenager? If he’s a teenager, he’s not a smuggler, then there’s no movie. It shouldn’t be done unless it’s an animated movie*, because then the character could still look like Harrison Ford, and they could hire a voice actor that sounded similar… But that’s another argument for another time. The last reason why it’s important to fans is, like I said before, it makes us happy. Having the original cast, even if their characters are barely present in the film, is incredibly important. It continues the story of characters we loved and grew up with as kids. It proves that even 30 years later Star Wars is still an amazing piece of cinema capable of bringing together generations of nerds, young and old… Even if that old man hates everything about Star Wars and swore to be done with Han forever.

 

Also, I really just want to see a cranky old Han Solo yelling at kids to get off his lawn while he and an old graying Chewy sit on their porch drinking beer.

 

 

 

*The only way I’d be okay with a live action Young Han Solo movie would be if he was played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and they used the same technique as the did in Looper to make him look and sound like Bruce Willis. If that was to happen, I’m sold.

 

 

 

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  • magfry

    While I would LOVE for Harrison Ford to come back and play Han Solo, I’m sure plenty of people thought a good performance of Obi Wan without the late Alec Guinness couldn’t be achieved… And then IMO McGregor carried the prequels with his performance. So again it would be amazing for Ford to come back, but if he didn’t I’d keep an open mind.

    • critterfur

      Well, for Episodes 7-9 it should be Harrison Ford, definitely…although I have a bad feeling that if Ford does return, Han will probably be killed off somewhere in Episode 7, and not last the run of the new trilogy; if he does, and the sequels go as scheduled (from about 2015 to 2019), Ford will be about 76 years old (and John Williams, who I would dearly love to return, will be 87).

      As to a young Han Solo film, I’m not adverse to it; there were quite a few adventures written about a younger Han Solo that were published in novels released in the late 1970s, when Star Wars was just getting off the ground. I know that Han’s Expanded Universe history dealt with him actually starting out as an Imperial cadet, but he ended up saving a wookiee slave named Chewbacca and the two of them went off to become smugglers and pirates together. There’s plenty of fodder there for some good adventures, exploring the seedier underbelly of the Star Wars universe and featuring more of its rogue elements. So I see no problem in featuring a film about Han in his late teens/early 20s, and the whole tale about how he went pirate. Maybe we could even see how Han won the Falcon from Lando in a game of cards.

      • nitsuah

        I for one would LOVE to see his acquisition of the Falcon. Or maybe a storyline leading into his fued with Jabba the Hutt? I remember seeing a rumor of a younger Han and Boba Fett story.

      • Doug

        While I agree there are some adventures that could be portrayed in a movie about a young Han Solo, I think my biggest problem with it is just in the fact it wont look like Harrison Ford. I know that’s silly, but Ford IS the face of “young Han Solo”, I mean he was only 29 in A New Hope. I’m 26, and I dont look that much different than I did when I was 18. Someone also mentioned the recasting of Obi Wan for The Phantom Menace, and maybe they just meant specifically people’s doubt anyone could top Alec Guinness’ performance, but again, that’s not really my concern. Episode 1 takes place about 32 years before A New Hope, making Obi Wan about 25 years old (he’s about 57 in ANH.) So, obviously they needed a younger actor to portray that character, and he did a great job doing it. But there’s the difference. There’s a 32 year gap between Episode 1 and Episode 4 where he ages and goes from looking like McGregor to looking like Guinness. A “young” Han Solo wouldnt age that much to go from looking like one person to another in less than 10 years. And that is what bugs me. /rant XD

  • nitsuah

    Not sure Joseph Gordon-Levitt would be the guy for the part if they went with a young Han Solo story. Probably not even a big name, but perhaps someone who can start a career with the Han Solo role. I just don’t see JGL piloting the Falcon after all the huge roles he has had.