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TheSolo : A Star Wars Storyreleased severalise the origins of everyone ’s favourite smuggler , his walking rug co - pilot and ramshackle Millennium Falcon well , but if other story musical theme and conception designs had fare to perish , we could have got a very unlike Young Han Solo film .
Although the development ofSolois , unsurprisingly given thedirector problems , a tightly restrain occult , tie - in bookThe Art of Solo : A Star Wars Storyoffers a tantalizing glimpse behind the aspect , including a wealth of concept art , with discussion from the cast of characters and gang about earlier versions of the script .
Related:What Boba Fett & Obi-Wan Can Learn from Solo
Now , before diving into all the art book ’s secret and draw extreme conclusions , it ’s important to commemorate that studio often give conception artists a quite a little of leeway to play around with ideas . As Lucasfilm Creative Art Manager Phil Szostak has note onTwitter , the most " blue - sky " period of concept creation is early on in the production , when production graphic designer promote the artists to pitch theme while the handwriting is still being written . The book charts an ongoing conversation between scriptwriter Lawrence Kasdan and the conception artists , as Kasdan reviewed their graphics and adapted the hand in brightness level of it . That certainly explicate the wide grasp of ideas toy with by the construct artists , only a fraction of which would ever really make it into the flick .
At the same time , there ’s enough comment about unlike versions of the script to suggestSolo : A Star Wars Storylacked a defining vision . Kasdan has recently discover that the moving-picture show wasgreenlit by Disney because of a exclusive scene , and the only other common thread run through the record book is Lucasfilm ’s desire to produce a Western . That think of Kasdan flirt with countless dissimilar ideas , most notably over how Han and Chewbacca first met . abstracted from the book is any veridical sense of just what kind of filmPhil Lord and Christopher Miller , who leftSolodue to creative differences with Lucasfilm , actually want to make;The Art of Solo : A Star Wars Storygoes to great lengths to nullify dropping any clues .
With all that said , there is still a lot to be learned . Here ’s the Han Solo prequel that could have been .
The Characters Could Have Been Very Different
fit in to Jon Kasdan , Qi’ra - to begin with named Kura - was fancy as a " femme fatale - eccentric character in the custom of Jane Greer in Out of the past times . " She was one of the very first eccentric the costume section were assigned to attire , and for several calendar month Lucasfilm toyed with the approximation of having her as a beautiful near - homo unknown . Both Neal Scanlan ’s creature department and the costume department experiment with different looks , but ultimately Scanlan decided that just did n’t feel likeStar Wars . " There are n’t many character in Star Wars that are a mid - earth between an alien and a human , " he explained . " That is a territory owned by other franchises . " He certainly seems to have had a point ; some of the concept art evidence forehead ridge that are suspiciously Klingon - esque in appearance .
See Qi’ra Concept Art
At the same time , it ’s hard not to view this as something of a lack chance for Lucasfilm . Star Wars may be inhabited by a signally diverse assortment of race , but the films have never show any idea of inter - species romance . The studio recently revealed thatLando Calrissian is pansexual , but that ’s not really been address on the big sieve . Qi’ra could well have become a remarkably important lineament inStar Warshistory , rather than just another love involvement for the coltsfoot ’s preferent scoundrel .
Qi’ra is n’t the only one who went through numerous designs . The script left the production crew a lot of tolerance when it came toDryden Vos . " Dryden and his world were very loose in our psyche , " Scanlan explained . " permit ’s just keep play at this and see what we come up with , with no tangible central focus . " In fact , the costume section avert opt a color scheme for his wear while they waited for a conclusion to be made . " Dryden Vos designs were suck on a inert gray build because we were biding our fourth dimension , " co - costume designer David Crossman observe , " waiting to see what Dryden going to be : a human or a cat or something else . " The conception graphics establish an unbelievable variety in terms of design - some were reptilian , others were clearly resonant of the Lasat fromStar Wars : Rebels . It ’s known that Michael K. Williams ’s version ofDryden Vos was a lion - like alien , but Ron Howard ditch that blueprint when he take Paul Bettany on board and Vos wound up a scarred human being .
See Dryden Vos Concept Art
Interestingly , some of the majestic designs forSolo : A Star Wars Storywere actually lifted fromRogue One . The costume department made more black Imperial Security uniform for women , but did n’t have to do new breastplates because they had the mold and shape done from Jyn Erso ’s camouflage . " We also reuse purple officers , fleet troopers , and stormtroopers from Rogue One in the spaceport , " Crossman impart .
Page 2 of 2:Solo’s Plot Developed A Lot Across Script Drafts
How Han and Chewie First Met Went Through Many, Many Iterations
As already mentioned , Kasdan ’s hand come along to have been remarkably smooth . As a final result , he scripted several different versions of thefirst meeting between Han and Chewie . In one former draft , Han was actually a airplane pilot flying in a rebel fleet ; in a scene inspired byTop Gun , the cocky pilot crash his starfighter into a repair shed , and wound up court - martialled . condemn to front - line combat on Mimban , he and Chewbacca were part of the same unit , and Chewie saved his life ; an interesting inversion of the traditional Wookiee life debt . In another version , Han and Chewie were both serve in the purple regular army and had a free-for-all in an officer ’s pile . It ’s no surprisal that idea was ditched , give Chewbacca ’s lifelong animosity towards the Empire and friendship with the Jedi . Another early script seems to have seen Han and Chewie meet on Corellia . In that draught , the young Han exploit in Corellia ’s regal metalworks . He was immure by the Empire for reasons not specified in the Scripture , and Chewbacca was actually Han ’s cellmate .
See Han & Chewie Meeting Concept Art
It really does look as though Lucasfilm had no literal vision for how Han and Chewie first met ; the last rough drawing seems to draw on a few of these ideas , with the two forging a open alliance to take to the woods the Empire on Mimban .
Related:Unanswered Questions From Solo: A Star Wars Story
Even when Kasdan settled on the Mimban plot , he still seems to have go through a number of draft . One saw Beckett deliver Han from death , earning his emplacement as " father bod " . It ’s not cleared how that version would have build up to Chewbacca ’s animation debt to Han , but it would for sure have made for a more aroused arc given Beckett ’s ultimate treachery .
The Kessel Run and Beyond
But , moving beyond characters to the plot of the film , there ’s still a lot of variance , especially in the cardinal Kessel heist . Concept artistry intimate that the script in the first place envisioned the Empire in control of Kessel , with Imperial stormtroopers shooting at the Falcon . perchance the single most exciting firearm of construct art in the entire Scripture is this image of Han hit out to rescue Chewbacca from the surface of Kessel . allot toThe Art of Solo : A Star Wars Story , the original estimate was for Imperial TIE paladin to pursue Han into theKessel Run . " The story elements of enslaved Wookiees on Kessel , and Han and Chewie ’s trajectory from the Empire , would both end up in the final film , " the Holy Writ notes .
See Kessel Run Concept Art
It also seems that famous Kessel Run was originally a far more crucial part of the floor . In the theatrical cut , the Kessel Run see Han lead off to Savareen , quick for a confrontation withEnfys Nest . The script originally intended Han and his rival to play during the Kessel Run instead . " Enfys Nest ’s Buckshot was become to have a big moment in the Kessel Run , " blueprint supervisory program James Clyne explained . " She catches up with them , and harpoon the Falcon to slow it down , collaring onto one of the dockage ports of the Falcon . " It ’s a engrossing comment , suggesting the moving picture ’s third number was almost very different , but no further point are provide .
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All in all , The Art of Solo : A Star Wars Storyis a riveting peep behind the Star Wars curtain . The book carefully avoids commit any hint as to the behind - the - scenes play that plagued the movie ’s yield , but it still offers some valuable insight . Perhaps the most remarkable constituent of it all , though , is just how disjointed the whole process feels . It ’s jolly reset the tipple ofSolo ’s book were incredibly dissimilar , suggesting a lack of a fundamental vision that would ultimately harm the motion-picture show ’s box position execution .
Next:Solo: A Star Wars Story Reshoots - What’s Lord & Miller And What’s Ron Howard?
