We’re just over a month away from the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, and I can honestly say that the more I see of this movie the more I am excited for it.
We have had two trailers, and today Lucasfilm released the first TV spot – with many more sure to come. This extended spot gave us several new shots and glimpses, as well as a few new lines, and the biggest takeaway for me is the same as the second trailer: Chewie might just steal the show. Han and Chewie’s interactions so far have been some of the absolute best material we’ve seen from the film yet, and this TV spot had perhaps my favorite one so far: a shot of Han and Chewie at the sabacc table.
If you haven’t seen the TV spot, check it out here:
Let’s take a look at some of the new shots and lines from the TV spot:
Previously, we have seen shots of Tobias Beckett fighting with Imperial troopers on top of the conveyex, though we know that Han and Chewie are also involved in the raid (as we saw in the last trailer quite clearly). In the new TV spot, we see Han and Chewie on top of the train exchanging fire with troopers, and we hear a voice-over of Han saying, “3… 2… now!” At that point, the trailer cuts to the explosion on the planet that we’ve seen previously, with the ship flying away from it. Is Han’s countdown really to the explosion in the movie, or is it clever editing? Either way, the cool shots in this scene that we have so far is that Han and Chewie engage in a battle on top of the train, which should be quite cool.
We get a new shot of Han and Chewie leaning against a railing, and Han has a blanket draped over him, giving the impression of a cold environment after a mission. Han asks, “So what’s your name, anyway?” and Chewie replies.
We’ve actually seen this shot before, but here’s what’s significant: you’ll note that Chewbacca has been added to this scene, as when we saw it in the first trailer it was just Han looking up at the Millennium Falcon. That likely means that Ron Howard added Chewbacca to this scene during shooting and reshooting, and perhaps that means that we’ll see more of Chewie in the final version of the film than was originally expected? I hope so!
After Beckett tells Han of a big-shot gangster who is putting together a crew (Dryden Vos), we quickly see shots of Qi’ra (and L3-37), Lando, and Rio Durant. Then it cuts to Han and Chewie sitting in the cockpit of the Falcon, and Chewie grumbles something, to which Han responds, “You think everything sounds like a bad idea.” It’s just another example of a cool exchange between the two friends.
There’s a new ship in the TV spot, and it’s quite interesting. It’s above the snow planet that we’ve seen before, and it’s a very vertical ship. Is it imperial? Does it belong to a gangster? We really don’t know, but it sure looks cool.
There’s a new shot of Han and Chewie together on the snowy planet.
There are new droids in the film too, though we don’t know anything about these droids in particular yet.
We don’t know who this character is either, though in this shot we see him firing a rocket, as others are also on this platform with weapons raised. Some have wondered whether this is Warwick Davis, and either way it looks like an ugnaught? If so, that would be a nice connection to the original trilogy.
There’s a new alien here, shuffling cards in the casino we’ve seen in earlier trailers and material.
Someone (Han?) pushes a bunch of credits onto the table.
Lando gives a side glance to someone and then in another shot reveals his cards.
In my favorite shot of the new TV spot, Han sits at the table playing sabacc (presumably with Lando), and Chewbacca sits next to him. Han slowly moves his cards over and then lifts them up to show Chewie, who shakes his head and mumbles, giving the impression that he doesn’t like the hand. It’s a really great scene that is perfect for the Han/Chewie relationship.
Lastly, there are a few new glimpses of the Millennium Falcon during the Kessel Run, being pursued by TIEs. As always, this scene looks really promising and looks to be quite cool.
