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Harrison Ford Opens Up About Han Solo ‘Star Wars’ Spin-Off

By Dustin Wicksell
Published on: 10:49 PST, Dec 12, 2015

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is less than a week from release, bringing Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, and Mark Hamill back to the galaxy far, far away that made them famous for the first time in decades. Soon enough, however, one of those roles will be recast, as Disney embarks upon its ambitious project to expand the Star Wars universe with a series of anthology films, and in a recent interview Ford spoke about the upcoming movie that will put Han Solo squarely in a spotlight of his own.

In July, Disney revealed that Han Solo would be getting his own standalone film as part of their expansion of the Star Wars franchise, setting a release date in May 2018 according to Reuters. As part of the recent press tour conducted in anticipation of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Ford was asked directly about his involvement in the upcoming film. He answered by revealing that, much to the dismay of Star Wars fans, he will apparently have nothing to do with the project.

“I don’t think it’s about being like me, it’s about us being like Han Solo,” Ford noted. “So I’m sure whoever is responsible for that film, and I’m not, will think through the issues and problems of doing such a thing… Let’s make them responsible for those questions you might think to ask me because I’m not involved.”

The 73-year-old actor was also asked whether he would provide any tips on filling the role of Han Solo for the as-yet-unnamed actor who will take over, but Ford directly declined, saying that he wouldn’t be giving that kind of advice.

The recasting won’t be the first time that someone else steps into one of Harrison Ford’s most iconic roles, yet the actor who takes on the challenge will undoubtedly have some major boots to fill. As CinemaBlend noted, Ford’s portrayal of Tom Clancy‘s Jack Ryan defines the character for most fans, despite the fact that Alec Baldwin, Chris Pine, and Ben Affleck all imbued the role with their own takes. With an entire generation of fans having grown to love Ford as Solo, it will undoubtedly be hard for many of them to see any other actor present their own version of the character.

Though little is known about the Han Solo spinoff, it will reportedly focus on the character’s life prior to the events of A New Hope. According to the Tech Times, Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy noted that the film would focus on key events in Han Solo’s life that led to him becoming the smuggler who met Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine. Unlike the prequel films in the Star Wars saga, the Han Solo standalone won’t delve too far into the character’s past, instead portraying him in either his late teens or early 20s, according to Kennedy.

The anthology film also won’t be the first in the Star Wars universe, as it will be preceded by Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, which is set for release in December 2016. While the core Star Wars sequel trilogy will reportedly focus on the saga of the Skywalker family, the anthology films will reveal other stories within the same universe centered around other characters and events.

Regardless of who takes on the role of Han Solo in the future, fans will get to see Harrison Ford return to it next week for the first time in decades, when Star Wars: The Force Awakens is released.

[Photo by Vittorio Zunino Celotto/Getty Images]

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