After a complicated production process, the first trailer for Solo: A Star Wars Story dropped Monday morning after a short teaser was released during Sunday night’s Super Bowl. The trailer introduces us to the characters we know, and some we don’t.
Though the film is called Solo, Han is anything but. In this first look at the film, Alden Ehrenreich‘s Han is joined by Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo), and Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) as part of a crew that Woody Harrelson’s Beckett is assembling.
What exactly is this crew going to accomplish? That’s unclear. As would probably be expected, this 90-second trailer is light on plot. It tells us a bit about Han’s origins and teases some of the character relationships (Qi’ra tells Han she might be the only person who knows what he is), but there’s not much revealed.
There is quite a bit of action, and it looks really good. After directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller were dropped from the project over “creative differences,” Ron Howard took over to complete filming and do some reshoots. Lord and Miller were reportedly let go from the film over their emphasis on making a comedy rather than an action film. From the looks of it, Howard’s finished product promises thrills aplenty, and, working with cinematographer Bradford Young, he’s certainly made something that looks good.
But as anyone who has seen Rogue One will tell you, trailers aren’t always faithful to the final result. After extensive reshoots were done with the previous Star Wars Story, there were some major changes made between the film’s trailer and wide release. It’s too early to start speculating on what from the trailer could or could not end up in the film, but it won’t be surprising if at least some of the shots from this first look are different or completely removed.
The first reactions from fans have been a bit muted on the leading man of Solo. Alden Ehrenreich’s Han is not exactly Harrison Ford’s Han. This might be disappointing to those who want to see their hero as they remember him, but from Ehrenreich’s perspective, not attempting to do a Harrison Ford impression is the best choice. Ehrenreich has the opportunity to provide another take on the character and give us something we haven’t seen. Making any changes to a beloved character is a risk, but we’ve seen in the past with Christian Bale’s Batman or Daniel Craig’s James Bond that sometimes changes can be good.
One of the highlights of this first trailer is Glover’s Lando Calrissian. With some impressive outerwear and Glover’s charm, young Lando has the potential to be a real scene-stealer in the film. The trailer also hints at the relationship between Han and Qi’ra. It’s too early to know how much these characters will be involved in the finished film, but based on this first look, there’s a good chance there will be more diversity in Solo akin to what we’ve seen from the most recent Star Wars films.
All in all, the first Solo trailer is a promising look at what is in store for Han’s origin story. After an unconventional production process, the film has come together and will certainly be alluring enough to bring audiences into theaters when the film is released on May 25, 2018.