After a long and storied road to get here, we are mere weeks away from the second Star Wars spinoff film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. The Ron Howard-helmed film promises to play like a greatest hits of Han Solo's notorious past, full of all the scum and villainy in the galaxy. We will be seeing younger versions of Star Wars favorites like Lando and Chewie, and I've wondered if we'll see Jabba and Boba Fett as well. However, now it appears that C-3PO may also make an appearance, and the source of this information is none other than Mark Hamill. When asked if C-3PO would ever break free of his subservience to the Skywalkers (A.I. in a galaxy far, far away hasn't had its Westworld moment yet), Mark Hamill said the following:
Ha-ha-ha-ha! [Anthony] Daniels was so happy, 'cause he's in every single Star Wars movie. Every single one. All the Prequels, he's in Rogue One, he's in Solo... Whoops! I hope that's not, erm... But anyway, he's in Every. Single. Star Wars movie. That's not such a reveal -- all Star Wars fans expect him to be in every movie.
Mark Hamill is truly the Tom Holland of the Star Wars universe, or Tom Holland is the Mark Hamill of the MCU. If we take Mark Hamill's comments on The Washington Post's Cape Up With Jonathan Capehart podcast at face value, it sounds like Anthony Daniels and C-3PO will be making it a perfect 10 for 10 on appearances in live-action Star Wars films when Solo hits theaters. Now it is important to note that rather than having accidentally let something slip, Mark Hamill may just be messing with us. The Jedi Master has a long and proud history of dolling out fake spoilers and generally trolling fans (and Disney) with his statements on the franchise.
However, as Mark Hamill says, Anthony Daniels' C-3PO has been in every Star Wars film to this point. This means there's an expectation from sone that he will show up, so perhaps this isn't that big of a spoiler. As to how C-3PO shows up and whether or not we need him to is another matter. The spinoff films to this point are basically adjacent to the main saga story, so it makes narrative sense that there would be some crossover of certain characters in Rogue One and Solo. This new movie is interesting because while it makes sense to see a lot of familiar faces, I'm not sure how C-3PO will fit in given where he is at this point in the story.
Presumably C-3PO is still the property of Bail Organa at this point and is hanging out on Alderaan, but Han Solo's story is still unknown, so maybe part of the character's criminal enterprises will take him to the former planet/current space dust, home of Princess Leia. I could see this working and just getting a quick glimpse of the droid, I just hope this doesn't result in Han Solo and Leia serendipitously passing by one another. As long as the cameo doesn't feel forced within the story, it will be good to see C-3PO again, who, although he still appears, definitely has had less to do in Star Wars movies of late.
We don't have too much longer to wait to see if this is true. Solo: A Star Wars Story is poised for a big opening weekend when it blasts into theaters on May 25.
