After months of waiting for looks at Solo: A Star Wars Story other than the behind-the-scenes photos director Ron Howard posted on social media, Lucasfilm finally obliged with week with a Super Bowl TV spot, a teaser trailer, several posters and numerous pictures. Most of the movie's principal characters are now on full display, but one of the notable absentees is Paul Bettany's character. We're going to have to wait a little longer to see official footage of this character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, but at least now we know what to call him: Dryden Vos.
Last year, it was rumored that a character named Dryden Vos would appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and now it's been confirmed by EW that this is who Paul Bettany is playing. Dryden is simply described as a crime boss who Han Solo will cross paths with during the movie, putting him right at home with the other folks who part of the galactic underworld, like Woody Harrelson's Tobias Beckett and Thandie Newton's Val. What's unclear is if Dryden will be one of Han's allies or enemies during Solo: A Star Wars Story. Obviously the majority of these characters will be criminals, but we'll have to wait and see if Dryden is one of the clear-cut bad guys.
Paul Bettany was brought onto Solo: A Star Wars Story late into the game to replace Michael K. Williams, who had shot all of his scenes during principal photography, but was unable to return for the reshoots. Williams described who he was playing as a "half-human, half-animal," but when Bettany joined the cast, the character was redeveloped to be a full human. While Bettany, like the rest of the cast, has stayed tight-lipped about Solo: A Star Wars Story's specific story beats, he assured Star Wars fans back in December that the movie will deliver everything we'd want to see from a tale centered on the Cornelian smuggler.
It's worth mentioning that Dryden Vos shares the same last name as Quinlan Vos (seen above), a Jedi Knight who was based on a background character seen in The Phantom Menace. Quinlan made numerous appearances in Expanded Universe material, and while those particular stories are no longer in continuity, Quinlan remains a canon character thanks to him popping up in Star Wars: The Clone Wars and starring in the book Dark Disciple alongside Asajj Ventress. However, don't assume this means that Dryden and Quinlan are connected to one another. If Antilles is the "Smith" of the Star Wars universe, maybe Vos is the "Johnson."
Solo: A Star Wars Story blasts its way into theaters on May 25, and don't forget to keep checking in with CinemaBlend for more updates about the Star Wars franchise.
