The first Star Wars anthology film, Rogue One was critically praised, in large part because of the ways that it was different from traditional Star Wars movies. Now, it appears that the upcoming Han Solo movie is going to have its own particular style as well. Specifically, the word is that the still untitled Han Solo movie is going to be funnier than the films we've seen before based in the galaxy, far, far away. Woody Harrelson, who stars in the movie as Beckett, Han Solo's mentor, says that Alden Ehrenreich's performance as the young would be smuggler is actually quite humorous, saying that the film could turn out be one of the funnier entries in the franchise. According to Harrelson...
He's a great actor and a great guy, [with a] great sense of humor. I think a lot of humor comes through what he's doing. I think it could be one of the funnier Star Wars movies.
It's not too surprising to hear than the Han Solo movie is going to be at least somewhat funny. The directors who began work on the project, Phil Lord and Chris Miller, were best known for their work on comedies like 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie. This, combined with the word that the directors may have been playing a little fast and loose with the script, likely led to some pretty funny material. With a large portion of filming already completed before they left the project and Ron Howard came on, we know that some portion of that product will make it to the screen. The question now, however, is just how much of it will? It's possible that the Lord and Miller version of Han Solo was actually too funny, and part of Ron Howard's job may be to tone things down a bit. It's difficult to tell if Woody Harrelson's comments to ET include recent work that Alden Ehrenreich has done with Ron Howard, or if he's talking more about the time spent with the old directors.
Humor and the Star Wars movies have always had a somewhat tenuous relationship. The original trilogy found most of its humor via the droids C-3PO and RS-D2, though to be fair, Han Solo's sarcasm and dry wit were always there. It certainly makes sense that a movie about the character would have humor to it. And we already know Alden Ehrenreich can be funny, his performance in the Cohen Brothers' Hail, Ceaser was the funniest part of that movie.
One of the things these spinoffs movies are supposed to do is allow for some degree of freedom with the source material. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story was a much grittier drama than we were used to seeing from Star Wars so there's nothing wrong with one of the films being a lighter story as well. As long as we're not getting Jar Jar Binks levels of slapstick, we'll probably be fine.
