Solo: A Star Wars Story Teaser Trailers Initial Thoughts

As part of the Superbowl Weekend the initial teaser trailer dropped for the upcoming Han Solo standalone Star Wars movie followed by the first “proper” trailer, but bearing in mind all of the controversy that has surrounded the film since its announcement including the casting of the lead and departure of the film’s original director, the question has been asked of many as to whether the film will be a worthy addition to the Star Wars franchise. After watching both repeatedly are they any good and do they give us any insights into the movie and what sort of film we might have to look forward to?

Superbowl TV Spot

The first teaser itself doesn’t show Han Solo directly until near to the end which is quite a telling move. One thing that was clear from the start was that Lucasfilm made the choice to honour the backstory that had been known about the character for many years – that he was a former Imperial Officer. I have to be honest and say that seeing the interior shot of the Imperial Base was quite a huge moment for me and brought a huge smile to my face. Of all of the Star Wars characters, Solo could be considered to be one of the most two-dimensional of them all, having very little drive other than being self-centred and focused around financial gain – all the traits that you’d attribute to a typical smuggler.

So back to the trailer and why is that single moment so important? That shot confirms that the movie follows the timeline that we know about Han Solo already – that he entered the Imperial Academy and at one point encountered Chewbacca who had been imprisoned and against his better judgement realised that what the Empire was doing was wrong, freed him and the rest was history. The Wookiee owed him his life and vowed to protect him with his own life, following him everywhere. It didn’t take long before a bond of friendship built between the two which we’re obviously all familiar with. It’s those early days that the teaser is setting up that got me excited.

At the same time, we had a brief glimpse inside the Falcon and its clear that this is a brand new ship. Obviously before Han took ownership of it so we know that Lando is going to come into it somewhere so are we going to see the game where the ship changes hands or – if this is a success – will we see that in a sequel? Truthfully, this teaser had me genuinely looking forward to the film.

First Teaser Trailer

So shortly after the full teaser trailer hit. Now as I said in my Spoilers article recently, I try my best to avoid anything to do with upcoming television programmes and films so after this trailer, I won’t be watching or reading anything else to do with Solo: A Star Wars Story until I see the film in the cinema. Straight away we learn more about Solo – he’s not as clean cut as he might be letting on with the Empire and the rogue-like nature that has made him loved by fans has been with him right from an early age. Maybe he was never really going to be cut out for his chosen career path after all? Certainly we learn that he was kicked out of the Academy (the aforementioned incident with Chewbacca) and that he doesn’t start off on his own. Interestingly he’s brought in to pilot the Falcon which appears to be someone else’s ship but this does raise the question of where Lando comes into it as being the former owner before Han.

One thing that does strike me about the film from watching the teaser is that it’s putting Han at the centre of a group and not the lone wolf smuggler he became (accompanied by Chewie of course). He’s still the same self assured cocky pilot, but he seems to have a more fun-loving nature so obviously something has changed dramatically in his life between this and A New Hope. Whether that’s something that will be revealed in the conclusion of the movie or if the intention is to keep this film more light-hearted and produce a darker sequel that’s unknown but this certainly looks like more like a popcorn action flick than the last couple of Star Wars movies we’ve seen which should make for a refreshing change. I do get a strange gut feeling that there’s more than just the one Solo movie in the pipeline though…

 

About Simon Plumbe 203 Articles
Husband, father and lifelong geek. Originally from the West Midlands, now spending my days in South Wales with my family and a house full of animals. Passionate about video games, especially retro gaming, the Commodore 64 and PlayStation Vita. Love pro wrestling, sci-fi and I'm an animal lover and vegetarian. Enjoyed this and my other articles? Why not buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/simonplumbe

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