There is no rumor like a Star Wars rumor. With the Star Wars universe going off into both the future and the past at the same time, there are numerous theories about how it all might tie together. One of those theories just collapsed. Several months ago we reported one such rumor, that the new Han Solo might be making an appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Director Gareth Edwards has now gone on record to state that's not happening.
The rumor first surfaced about six months ago, while the massive casting call for the young Han Solo was still going on. It was implied that before the new Solo made it to his own film, the character played by Alden Ehrenreich would have some kind of cameo appearance in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Extra recently asked Rogue One director Gareth Edwards about the rumor and he gave a surprisingly straight answer.
I'm not sure if I'm allowed to do this, but I think I should. I can put to bed, Han Solo's not in the movie.
It's becoming more and more unusual for anybody representing a film to comment on rumors at all, regardless of how crazy they might be. The feeling is that, if you deny all the rumors that aren't true you end up confirming the ones that are. Unless you're J.J. Abrams and you just deny the true ones anyway.
It's not too surprising to discover that this particular rumor was not true. As cool as it would be to see our favorite smuggler show up, we're not sure how much sense it really would have made in the story. How does Han Solo get involved in stealing the Death Star plans, then later get involved in getting them safely to the Rebellion without this fact ever coming up? It doesn't really hold up. And while we're ok with Alden Ehrenreich being made up to look like a young Han Solo, we've always heard that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will end just before the opening of Star Wars: A New Hope, which would require quite a change for Han in a very short period of time. Although, it should be pointed out that Extra tried to get Gareth Edwards to comment on that rumor as well, and he refused to do so.
Are you sad that you won't see Han Solo in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story or do you prefer that the new characters will be given a chance to carry the film on their own? Let us know in the comments.
