Despite being around for decades, the Star Wars franchise is exploring plenty of new territory, now that Disney has taken control of the property. One of these new aspects are standalone films, which function separately from the main installments, and help expand the galaxy far, far away. Both Rogue One and Solo have illuminated the time between the prequel trilogy and A New Hope, showing what it was really like under galactic rule before the First Death Star was built and promptly destroyed. It turns out that these two standalone films actually have more connective tissue, namely Forest Whitaker's Rogue One character Saw Gerrera.
A new Solo novel is hitting shelves soon, helping to expand all of the stories explored in Ron Howard's standalone film. While doing a deeper dive into new characters like Qi'ra and L3-37, the novel will also add to the mysterious character Enfys Nest, who lead a group of pirates battling against The Empire. It turns out that she had links to Rouge One's Saw Gerrera, and even Jyn Erso herself.
At the end of Solo, Enfys Nest and The Cloud Riders procure the Coaxium that was the focus of the film's big heist. Now it appears she took it directly to Saw Gererra. This is likely used to fuel the Rebel Alliance, which was still forming at the time of Solo. While this connection between movies and characters is exciting enough, the Solo novel even includes a young Jyn Erso. Erso was a young girl at the time of Solo, although already under the care and tutelage of Saw. Enfys gave Jyn some sage advice as another young woman in the rebellion, and sent the ten year off with new confidence and eagerness to become the hero she was meant to.
This short scene (which comes to us from StarWars.com) is really satisfying for Star Wars fans, and everyone who reads the Solo novel will probably have some serious FOMO, considering Saw and young Jyn weren't in the actual movie. But this makes sense, as it would have cost Lucasfilm a pretty penny to bring Forest Whitaker back for one quick scene-- especially if he was also going to be de-aged through CGI. Still, it would have been an excellent way to keep the overall universe connected, as well as add an extra level of excitement to the standalone films.
It should be interesting to see how Lucasfilm uses standalone films after Solo's disappointing box office performance. There have been conflicting reports as to whether or not Star Wars will continue producing spinoff movies. While Obi-Wan, Boba Fett, and even Jabba The Hutt have been rumored to be getting their own blockbuster, there has been no confirmation from Disney or Lucasfilm. So we'll just have to wait and see.
The next installment in the Star Wars franchise will be J.J. Abrams' untitled Episode IX. In the meantime, check out our 2018 release list to plan your next trip to the movies.
