Honestly, the deck was stacked against Solo: A Star Wars Story before Alden Ehrenreich even stepped into the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. It’s been years since it hit theaters in 2018, and the dust has finally settled on what was, quite frankly, a messy production. People talk about the box office numbers like they’re a death sentence. But if you actually sit down and watch the movie without the baggage of the "Great Star Wars Discourse," you find something surprisingly gritty, fun, and deeply respectful of the lore.
It’s a heist movie. That’s the secret.
While the sequel trilogy was busy wrestling with the heavy weight of destiny and the Jedi Order, Solo: A Star Wars Story was just trying to pull off a train robbery. It’s smaller. It’s dirtier. It feels like the kind of story Han would actually tell at a bar, probably with a few exaggerations thrown in for good measure.
The Production Hell That Almost Killed Solo: A Star Wars Story
You can't talk about this movie without mentioning Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. They were the original directors, known for The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street. They have a specific, improvisational style. Lucasfilm, specifically Kathleen Kennedy, reportedly didn't vibrate on that same frequency.
They were fired.
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Enter Ron Howard. He’s the ultimate "safe pair of hands" in Hollywood. He stepped in late, reshot a massive chunk of the film—some say up to 70%—and somehow managed to make a cohesive movie. It's a miracle it doesn't feel like a Frankenstein’s monster. Instead, it feels like a classic Western set in space.
The budget ballooned to over $275 million because of those reshoots. When it "only" made $392 million worldwide, the internet declared it a flop. But "flop" is a financial term, not a quality metric. Some of the best sci-fi ever made bombed at the box office. Just look at Blade Runner.
Casting Han Solo: The Impossible Task
Alden Ehrenreich had the hardest job in the galaxy. How do you play a young Harrison Ford without just doing a "Saturday Night Live" impression? You don't. You play the character, not the actor.
Ehrenreich’s Han is different. He’s more optimistic. He hasn't been completely burned by the world yet. He’s a dreamer who thinks he’s a cynical outlaw. Watching him slowly develop that "shoot first" armor is the whole point of the arc.
Then there’s Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian.
Basically, he stole every scene he was in. He captured the suave, slightly untrustworthy vibe of Billy Dee Williams perfectly while adding his own flair. The relationship between Lando and L3-37, his droid co-pilot voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, gave the film a weird, progressive heart that felt very "new Star Wars" while staying grounded in the used-universe aesthetic.
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Breaking Down the Kessel Run
For decades, fans argued about the Kessel Run. "It's a measure of distance, not time!" we all shouted at our screens. Solo: A Star Wars Story finally gave us the visual. It wasn't just a straight shot through space. It was a terrifying trek through the Akkadese Maelstrom, dodging a gravity well and a giant space monster.
It finally made sense.
Han wasn't just bragging about speed; he was bragging about his ability to navigate a shorter, much more dangerous path. Seeing the Millennium Falcon look "new"—all clean and white before the wear and tear of the original trilogy—was a nice touch for the gearheads.
Why the "Fans" Initially Rebelled
Timing is everything. This movie came out only five months after The Last Jedi. The fandom was on fire. People were exhausted, angry, or just plain confused. If Solo: A Star Wars Story had been released in December, like the other Disney-era films, it probably would have cleared $700 million easily.
Instead, it got sandwiched between Avengers: Infinity War and Deadpool 2.
There was also a weird resistance to seeing Han’s origin. People said, "We don't need to know where his name came from" or "We don't need to see him meet Chewbacca." Maybe. But seeing Han and Chewie meet in a mud pit on Mimban, fighting each other before realizing they were each other's only hope? That’s gold. It’s one of the best "meet-cutes" in cinema history, even if it involves a Wookiee trying to eat a human.
The Visuals: A Grittier Side of the Galaxy
Greig Fraser and Bradford Young are cinematographers who don't play it safe. Young worked on Solo, and he brought a very underexposed, moody look to the film. It's dark. It's dusty. It looks like a world where people actually live and work.
The trenches of Mimban feel like World War I.
The snowy peaks of Vandor feel cold.
The yacht of Dryden Vos feels like a high-end, dangerous Vegas lounge.
Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos was a last-minute replacement for Michael K. Williams (who couldn't make the reshoots due to scheduling). Bettany brought a simmering, polite menace to the role. He wasn't a Sith Lord. He wasn't a Grand Moff. He was just a high-level mobster. That’s a corner of the Star Wars universe we rarely get to spend time in, and it’s honestly more interesting than another Death Star.
The Darth Maul Reveal
Let’s talk about that cameo.
Ray Park returned to play the physical role of Maul, with Sam Witwer providing the voice (continuing his incredible work from The Clone Wars and Rebels). It was a shocker for casual fans who thought he died in The Phantom Menace. For the hardcore fans, it was a bridge to the wider lore. It signaled that Solo: A Star Wars Story was part of a much bigger criminal underworld story involving the Crimson Dawn.
It’s a shame we might never see the payoff to that cliffhanger on the big screen.
The Legacy of Solo and the #MakeSolo2Happen Movement
Despite the lukewarm box office, a dedicated cult following has cropped up. The hashtag #MakeSolo2Happen trends regularly. Fans realized that the chemistry between the cast was actually great. The ending, with Han and Chewie heading to Tatooine to meet a "big-time gangster" (obviously Jabba), set up a sequel that would have been pure fanservice in the best way.
We’ve seen some of these threads picked up in comics and books, specifically the "War of the Bounty Hunters" arc, but the movie remains a standalone gem.
Forgotten Details That Matter
- The Dice: Those gold dice hanging in the Falcon? They weren't just a random prop. They became a symbol of Han’s luck and his connection to Qi'ra.
- The Music: John Powell took the reins from John Williams, but Williams still wrote "The Adventures of Han" theme. Powell’s score is underrated—it’s percussion-heavy and energetic.
- The Droid Rights: L3-37's subplot about droid revolution was surprisingly political for a Star Wars movie. It added a layer of ethical complexity to the way the galaxy treats artificial intelligence.
Actionable Steps for the Star Wars Fan
If you haven't watched Solo: A Star Wars Story since the theater, or if you skipped it because of the bad press, here is how to actually enjoy it now:
1. Watch it as a heist movie, not a space opera.
Forget the fate of the galaxy. Focus on the stakes of the coaxium heist. If you approach it like Ocean's Eleven or Heat, the pacing works much better.
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2. Pair it with "The Clone Wars" and "Rebels."
To understand the Maul connection and the state of the underworld, watch the "Shadow Collective" arc in The Clone Wars. It gives the ending of Solo much more weight.
3. Pay attention to the background characters.
The movie is packed with practical alien effects. Warwick Davis even makes an appearance as Weazel, a character he originally played in The Phantom Menace.
4. Listen to the score on its own.
John Powell’s work on this film is genuinely inventive. Track 4, "Train Heist," is a masterclass in building tension through orchestral percussion.
5. Check out the novelization by Mur Lafferty.
If you want more context on Qi’ra’s motivations and what she was doing between the prologue and the main story, the book fills in those gaps beautifully. It explains her relationship with Dryden Vos in a way the movie only hints at.
Solo: A Star Wars Story didn't fail because it was a bad movie. It failed because of a perfect storm of marketing errors and franchise fatigue. As a piece of filmmaking, it’s a high-speed, well-acted, and visually distinct adventure. It’s the closest Star Wars has ever come to a pure "scoundrel" story, and that’s exactly what Han Solo deserved. Give it another shot. You might be surprised at how well it’s aged.