It's been two months since 21 Jump Street duo Phil Lord and Chris Miller exited the Han Solo movie with only a few weeks left of filming left. Ron Howard was quickly hired as the Star Wars spinoff's new director, and judging by Howard's social media posts, production still seems to be running smoothly. However, the creative shakeups didn't end with Lord and Miller's departure, as The Night Of star Michael K. Williams has revealed that he's been cut from the Han Solo movie because he was unable to participate in the reshoots that had become necessary for his character. Williams explained:
When Ron Howard got hired to finish out the film, there were some reshoot issues that needed to be done in regards to my character, in order for it to match the new direction which the producers wanted Ron to carry the film in. And that would have required me on a plane a month ago to London, to Pinewood, to do reshoots. But I'm here, on location in Africa. It's scheduling. I'm not going to be back on the market until the end of November after [his Sundance TV series] Hap and Leonard, and for them to wait that long for me, that would have pushed back the release date, which I believe is in May 2018. They wanted me now; I couldn't go. So they had to clip-clip-clip.
Michael K. Williams was first reported to be involved with the Han Solo movie back in March, although no details were revealed about who he would be playing. Sadly for those who were looking forward to seeing the Boardwalk Empire and The Wire actor in a galaxy far, far away, it's not happening due to unfortunate scheduling conflicts with his other projects. Williams also informed Deadline that his character was a "half-human, half-animal," although he didn't mention how this character fit into the plot. Nevertheless, Williams is proud of the "kick-ass" character he helped create, and later added that he doesn't think that him not being in the Star Wars family anymore is "final."
As for if any of Michael K. Williams' cut scenes will be made available on the Han Solo movie's home release, that's hard to say. Depending on how important his character was to the story, it's possible Lucasfilm might throw in a few of Williams' moments to give Star Wars fans a taste of what might have been. But let's also not forget that Rogue One: A Star Wars Story cut a fair chunk of material from before its reshoots, including scenes that were shown in the first trailer, and those weren't included on the home release. Either way, hopefully we'll learn more about Williams' character once the Han Solo movie has screened to the public, either from Williams himself or someone else from the cast/crew.
So far Michael K. Williams seems to be the only acting casualty from the Han Solo movie's directing shift. The main cast still includes Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo and Ian Kenny, among others. The next Star Wars anthology spinoff will arrive in theaters on May 25, 2018.
