Han Solo’s new Marvel comic solves one of Star Wars’ great mysteries
I Value Solo: Star Wars more every year.
Despite the tumultuous production that Ron Howard saw (Willow) replacing Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (21 Jump Street) during filming, the Star Wars adventure hit theaters with a lot of “necessary things.” The casting of Alden Ehrenreich as Solo, Emilia Clarke as his lost love who became Kira’s rival, and Donald Glover as the pansexual Lando was top-notch, the sets were light, and the way the film expanded into mythology felt like a Star Wars prequel done right. (excluding the whole part of the origin of Solo’s name). The overly dark camerawork makes the movie messy, and the script doesn’t have the charisma that the cast has to offer, but right now, I’m in “Solo completely reviewed.”
And when Marvel’s Star Wars comics collide with events,
SoloI tends to perk up. I dug up Charles Soule’s recent crossover saga “The War of the Bounty Hunters.” Which found a way to bring Qi’ra back into the womb. Soul’s current book, Crimson Realm, continues to add details about the flamboyant anti-hero; she is currently plotting to destroy the Empire. Though we know how that will inevitably end. Lucasfilm’s pro-Solo position got me excited to check out the new book by Marc Guggenheim and David Messina Han Solo and Chewbacca, which begins on Wednesday when the duo pulls off a heist and operates in scam mode. Only on the basis of the first issue, the Guggenheim and Messina series could become Solo, a sequel we’ll never get – with prequel details we may not actually need.
First pages, Han Solo and Chewbacca do what every Star Wars story should really do:
Immerse fans in the Star Wars action sequence and introduce some new characters. Since so much of the franchise is tied to the past, it’s always nice to see creators get the chance to add new faces to the mix. In the opening episode, it’s Khel Tanna, a smuggler with no tolerance for Han Solo’s (or, for that matter, his malfunctioning Millennium Falcon) bullshit, and Buck Wankto, a masked marshal who hunts for Han and Chewie’s trailer during their final robbery. Han Solo and Chewbacca have a fast pace 11 Ocean’s Friends trope-style heist movie, and he pulls all the stops of the trope. Longtime Star Wars fans will be interested to know about the time Khan actually worked for Jabba and got himself into situations like this.
End Han Solo and Chewbacca No. 1, where are all my Solo thoughts collide.
Throughout the book, Guggenheim returns to the events set in the new canon origin story for Khan. His big mission even takes him back to Corellia, where memories of life on the outskirts are flooding back. This is a good use, Solo. The book then bets on the not-so-good part Solo — and it will be interesting to see where he goes.
[Ed. note: The rest of this story contains spoilers for Han Solo & Chewbacca #1.]
While sitting in a bar contemplating how to break into the most complex vault system in the galaxy, Han stumbles upon a Corellian old-timer. They start talking about the shipbuilding business. They remember. And soon, an aging man named Ovan understands who he is talking to, his son Khan.
In the expired canon of The Legend,
Khan’s father was Jonas Solo, a member of Corellian royalty. Solo: A Star Wars Story cleaned it up for the better but didn’t waste time tracking down Kid Solo’s origins. For some, this has left a big gaping hole in the universe where everything tends to be connected. Who was Khan’s father? was a mystery by modern franchise standards but didn’t necessarily need an answer – Solothe’s a great triumph of Khan advances without looking back. (And when his past, Qi’ra, comes back into view, it’s through a transformation that gives her a key role in Khan’s current life.)
It’s unclear how important Ovan is in the big Khan comic arc and the upcoming heist. But Han Solo and Chewbacca opened up this can of exports, daring to make a prequel even as they unfold a story torn from much of the well-known Star Wars saga. Will the Marvel team be able to handle this? Trying is a kind of risk that an ambitious Khan can admire.
