Major Spoilers ahead for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Massive. If you haven’t seen it, read our spoiler-free review and run away.
Ok now that that’s over, let’s get right into it. Star Wars fans around the world cried a collective Luke Skywalker-esque "NOO!" while watching The Force Awakens. That’s right, I’m talking about the surprising death of everyone’s favorite smuggler, Han Solo. It was shocking to see Solo stabbed through the chest by his son and tossed aside. However, some new information has just come to light that may give us a glimmer of hope.
Movie Casting Call, which assists in the casting of small and background roles for the upcoming Star Wars: Episode VIII has created a page for the movie, with surprising results. Toward the end of the page, the principle cast of the film is listed and includes Harrison Ford as Han Solo. Does this mean that the scruffy looking nerf herder might be clinging to life? Let’s break it down.
I’m going to say that the likelihood of Han Solo’s return is fairly low. After all, he got the pointy end of Kylo Ren’s lightsaber, possibly including the cross guard. That’s a lot of damage for a smuggler of his age to take. Plus, he ended up being tossed from the bridge into one of those space station abysses that only exist in the Star Wars world. Oh, and the whole planet exploded. So, there’s that. It’s likely that the casting website included Han Solo in error, and is enjoying watching the fandom freak out.
Then again, there are a variety of ways Harrison Ford could be used in Episode VIII. Star Wars has yet to utilize flashbacks as a device in the franchise. But, with so many years unaccounted for in the canon, it might make perfect sense. Perhaps we’ll see Leia and Han raising Kylo Ren and sending him to Luke for training. Since everyone’s favorite Star Wars couple got fairly minimal screen time in The Force Awakens, it would be satisfying to see more of them in a flashback sequence.
I do feel like it’s most likely that Harrison Ford isn’t going to appear in the next Star Wars movie. After all, we know that Ford originally wanted Han Solo to die during the events of Return Of The Jedi. Luckily, George Lucas rejected this idea and had Solo helping to destroy the shield generator and save the day. And, even though I didn’t want it to happen, his demise in The Force Awakens was a very epic scene. Han personified Empire Strikes Back, appealing to his son, and meeting him halfway on the bridge.
Only time will tell if Han Solo makes a surprise appearance in Episode VIII. We’ll keep you updated as more information is made public.
