Bring Back Solo? #MakeSolo2Happen Trends On Social
Will Han Solo, Chewie, Lando, Qi’ra & Maul Return?
It’s a sentiment that many, many Star Wars fans share: #MakeSolo2Happen. They want Han Solo to return.
I would count myself in that number for sure.
Solo: A Star Wars Story was truly, truly underrated.
I really, really loved that movie… https://t.co/JwH6taIz89
— John Bishop (@jmbishopjr) May 25, 2020
Thinking Solo
My own review of the film began:
As I sat and watched Solo for the first time, I kept thinking about kids.
My children. Kids I knew growing up; teenagers I know now – the boys and girls, all at an age when we all thought we were invincible. Then school ends or college comes, and the outlook and focus changes. Wild tales and beautiful ideas and fantastic news — knowledge, and experience — erode that feeling of invincibility leaving a thin veneer of bravado.
Watching solo is an awful lot like watching that process; remembering seemingly superhuman friends and acquaintances, witnessing them make a lot of mistakes, but living to tell the tale. Sometimes those people learn from their mistakes. Sometimes they don’t.
Unfortunately, the lesson that the Walt Disney Company learned was that niche stories from a galaxy far, far away were too risky. However, there is — perhaps — a bit of hope.
Bad Timing
A couple years back, I blogged for DSNYnewscast.com about Bob Iger, who said about Solo:
“I made the timing decision, and as I look back, I think the mistake that I made — I take the blame — was a little too much, too fast. You can expect some slowdown, but that doesn’t mean we’re not going to make films… And we are just at the point where we’re going to start making decisions about what comes next after J.J.’s. But I think we’re going to be a little bit more careful about volume and timing.”
Yes, I would agree with Mr. Iger.
And the anniversary date of Solo: A Star Wars Story (two years ago, today) tells the story:
- Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Dec. 18, 2015)
- Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (Dec. 16, 2016)
- Star Wars: The Last Jedi (Dec. 15, 2017)
- Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 25, 2018)
Okay, so you see what I am getting at here.
Bob was right – the timing was bad. However, IMHO, the reason Solo so poorly had more to do with it not playing in December; not that there was too much Star Wars.
Really, I think that Disney felt very confident that Mary Poppins Returns belonged in that December slot. And it did decently, but NOT putting Solo in that spot was really hard on a movie that had several major problems going in:
- Production issues (including directorial changes)
- Having to replace Harrison Ford (Alden Ehrenreich was excellent, but was relatively unknown). Oh, and the franchise just killed off the character, too.
- Fan backlash over The Last Jedi (’nuff said).
All of the above has devoured many, many bytes and I don’t need to rehash.
However, I contend that even a movie like “Luke Skywalker Is Badass” would have had trouble contending those issues on Memorial Day weekend 2018.
And the (mostly) young, talented ensemble In Solo: A Star Wars Story deserved better; a better reception and a better premiere date.
Good Timing
So, you’re The Walt Disney Company. And a fan-sponsored; wait, make that a fan-sponsored positive movement makes it clear that a whole bunch of folks remains genuinely interested in seeing a major character (or several characters) return.
- And, you might have several of those folks still under contract.
- Oh, and hey, your highly-respected production squad has figured out how to do a spectacular Star Wars story — standalone (read that non-Skywalker) style.
- BTW: Your much-hyped Star Wars lands each have a Millennium Falcon ride.
Wow! It almost makes too much sense.
So, getting to the point, while I don’t think we’ll see Solo 2 “happen” on a big screen. I do think we have the BEST SETUP EVER for a Disney+ spinoff or sequel in the not so distant future.
Sure, #MakeSolo2Happen is trending. But so will #LandoReturns or #HanAndChewie or what-have-you.
“You might want to buckle up, baby.”