﻿Hey guys, I’m Mike and now that we’ve seen the first trailer for ‘Solo,’
what are the odds that this movie will actually be good?
Approximately 3,720 to one!
Never tell me the odds!
41 years after we first met Han Solo,
we’re finally going to find out what makes this scoundrel tick.
But I’m just not sure if I ever wanted that in the first place,
or if the movie is even going to do him justice.
When it comes to ‘Solo,’ I hate to say it, but
I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This.
Before we get started, I want to make myself perfectly clear:
This movie could still be awesome.
I actually think ‘Rogue One’ is best post-Disney ‘Star Wars’ movie,
and that production went through almost as much shit as ‘Solo.’
And let's be honest, it came out on the other side smelling like a rose.
That Darth Vader scene is probably one of Vader's most iconic moments, and we only have it because of the reshoots.
Now, I’m not trying to organize a boycott, or say Ron Howard is ruining my childhood.
I mean, I’m still gonna see it.
So are millions of other people, and a lot of them are going to love it.
I don’t wanna shit on anyone’s enthusiasm,
but I have some pretty high standards for Han Solo.
He means a lot to me personally,
more than Luke Skywalker even,
and I can definitely understand why fans were so upset at Luke’s flawed, almost cowardly portrayal in 'The Last Jedi.'
I have pretty similar concerns for Han,
I mean, his character has already been nerfed once,
and with ‘Solo,’ I’m nervous he’s gonna lose that amoral charm once he gets an origin.
I always loved that Han represented the grey area between the Light side and the Dark,
because I personally couldn't relate to either side,
What good's a reward if you ain't around to use it?
and it’s a lot easier to do that when the character is a
A Man of Mystery.
Okay, not a total mystery,
since it looks like the movie is resurrecting some of his old Expanded Universe backstory.
In the EU, Han was an orphan on the streets of Corellia when an old crook named Garris Shrike found him and raised him.
And no, that’s not Woody Harrelson.
Basically, Shrike was the Yondu to Han’s Star Lord,
only not nearly as nice.
I'm sorry I didn't do none of it right. I'm damn lucky you're my boy.
Han was desperate to fly a ship of his own,
so he enlisted with the Empire and became a TIE Pilot.
Which explains why he's so good at out-maneuvering them.
He was court-martialed and discharged after helping Chewie escape Imperial slavery,
and for years the two adventured across the galaxy in an old ship they won in a game of Correlian Spike,
which is an alternate version of Sabacc.
Sabacc. Sabac? Sabacc.
Sabacc! Hah!
The details will be different in ‘Solo,’
but the EU already offered you a perfectly good origin,
if you wanted it.
You could also just ignore it,
which is what George Lucas was gonna do in ‘Episode III.’
You know that big battle on Kashyyyk at the end?
Han was going to appear as a feral child raised among the Wookies,
[SIGH]
[OFFSCREEN] You see the concept art for it? He's just like a little orphan boy in rags.
Oh my god, he's Mowgli. They just turned him into freakin' Mowgli.
This would have completely trumped the much cooler EU canon,
and we would have been stuck with it forever.
For-eh-ver.
Fooooorrrrr ehhhhh verrrrrrr.
Ah, yes.
Just like we’re stuck with Boba Fett being a weird little clone,
instead of a badass exiled soldier named Jaster Mereel.
And now, like it or not, we’re gonna have to live with ‘Solo.’
Whatever canon you had in your mind,
it’s gonna be gone come Memorial Day,
and so is that sense of mystery that made Han so awesome in the first place.
It’s like Harrison Ford said:
‘He’s got no mama, no papa, and he’s got no story.’
Well, now he’s getting one,
and honestly, I’m not sure it’s strong enough to justify erasing the EU origin,
or the one we built in our heads.
There wasn’t anything in the teaser that raised alarm bells for me,
but I’m more concerned about
What We Didn’t See
Remember the first ‘Force Awakens’ trailer?
Let me set the stage: It had been ten years since we saw any new live-action 'Star Wars' anything.
And then, the Millenium Falcon flies out,
It had slightly different TIE Fighters, X-Wings, lightsabers,
a stormtrooper without a helmet, which means there's finally a stormtrooper with its own identity,
and, of course, Han and Chewie.
We're home.
It showed us everything familiar and awesome we love about 'Star Wars,'
but it didn't give us anything about the plot.
It just show enough to intrigue us about how the old things we love will fit together in the new trilogy.
Now look at the ‘Solo’ teasers.
What do I care about this freight train?
Or a car chase on a slippery road?
I get that it looks kinda like ‘American Graffiti,’ but these thing don’t even have wheels!
You can't even call them cars.
That can't be your car! It must be your mama's car!
Judging from the Internet’s reaction, Lando was the star of the trailer,
but wouldn’t it have been nice to have him say literally anything?
Anything!
What have you done to my ship?
Your ship? Hey, remember, you lost her to me fair and square.
It could even have been: 'I fold.'
You know how the teaser should have opened?
A pair of Imperial officer boots step out onto the deck of a Star Destroyer,
and there we see Han Solo, arms behind his back, standing at attention in his naval officer uniform.
But we didn’t see that.
Instead, all we got was him getting recruited to the Imperial fleet.
We didn’t hear anything about the Kessel Run or life debts,
And there wasn’t a glimpse of Boba Fett or Jabba the Hutt.
Now, let’s not even pretend that all that stuff isn’t going to be in the movie,
That’s why they’re making the damn thing.
That tells me they’re worried about putting their best stuff in the trailer,
because that’s all they’ve got,
and they don’t have anything better in store for the actual film than moments RedLetterMedia predicted six months ago.
[RICH EVANS LAUGHTER]
They can’t show us what we want to see,
because without them, there’s nothing left to justify actually buying a ticket.
They don't need to justify it, because I will buy a ticket sight unseen with just the words 'Solo: A Star Wars Story.'
They already have my money. And I'm sure they already have yours too if you managed to make it this far into the video.
The teasers make it seem like we’re getting a paint-by-numbers Han Solo flick without much else to offer,
which is what happens when you allegedly fire talented directors like Phil Lord and Christopher Miller.
These guys somehow made ‘The Lego Movie’ and ‘21 Jump Street’ work,
but they got dumped for the dude who made ‘The Da Vinci Code,’
your mom’s favorite movie.
Now, instead of an improv comedy starring the coolest maltese falcons in the galaxy,
it’s a movie about space Fonzie, directed by Richie Cunningham.
Don’t get me wrong, Ron Howard is a total pro,
and I love movies like 'Backdraft' and 'Apollo 13,'
but after switching directors ¾ through production,
it’s a straight up miracle he’s getting this movie out the door on time.
But even if it somehow avoids being a ‘Justice League’ level dumpster fire,
after the bold new direction of ‘The Last Jedi,’
it just feels like ‘Solo’ is taking ‘Star Wars’
One Step Back.
Now, there’s definitely room for actors sharing a role in ‘Star Wars.’
As far as I’m concerned Alec Guiness and Ewan McGregor are both Obi Wan.
But when it comes to Alden Ehrenreich, well,
all we really have to go on are like, two lines in the trailer,
plus rumors that he sucked so bad he needed an on-set acting coach.
Say your line exactly as I'm about to. Just as I'm about to do.
Sure. Okay.
Would that it were so simple.
I'm tryin' to say that, Mister.
Let’s face it: Harrison Ford’s charismatic performance is the character.
Hey... It's me!
But since he’s not gonna be around forever, Lucasfilm had two options:
Let Han die with dignity and move on to new stories,
or recast him and cash in with a prequel series you can exploit till the dewbacks come home.
Look both ways, dewback!
Instead of commiting one way or the other,
now it looks like Disney is going to have their cake and eat it, too.
Whether you loved it or you hated it,
‘The Last Jedi’ was all about moving on from yesteryear,
and creating a new future instead of dwelling on ancient legends and worn-out heroes.
But now, ‘Solo’ seems like they’re pulling back on their bold new direction,
and treading water in the very shallow, very profitable sea of nostalgia.
After ‘The Last Jedi,’ ‘Solo’ seems like Disney is trying to have it both ways,
and honestly... maybe they can?
If you want the saga to evolve beyond the past,
there’s no reason to throw the baby out with the bathwater.
Maybe ‘Solo’ is a necessary nod to the series’ roots,
A way to keep the past alive and keep new fans coming back to the original classics.
You can have your fresh-faced new vision for the ‘Star Wars Saga,’
as long as you pay proper tribute to the classics we fell in love with in the first place.
Emphasis on proper, because given what I’ve seen so far,
it looks like Lucasfilm is blowing their one-in-a-million shot.