MooCriket
Master Member
You want to make a good Solo film? Don't show us a character who's already the same person we meet later (in the earlier films).
Make him a hard-core Imperialist and a racist. (Well, species-ist.) Make him strict and obsessed with the rules. (Have him bust up a card game that the non-coms are playing.) He's from some backwater world, he's bought in to all the propaganda, and the Empire lets him fly.
Instead of washing out of the Academy because he's just too cool for school, let him slowly learn that the propaganda is different from the reality, and that's hard for him to stomach.
Like maybe he's a pilot stationed on G5-623. He's told that the Wookies are just animals, and that using them as slaves is no different than harnessing a Bantha.
But he sees them doing maintenance on Imperial starships. He sees that they are smart and kind, or dumb and cruel, that they aren't just animals. They're individuals with as much passion and as much potential for good or evil as "people".
The Wookies rebel, and the Imperials offer a temporary truce to discuss the terms required to end the conflict. But the Empire betrays them and kills many of their leaders. Han is horrified by this, because it breaks the rules of conflict that have existed on every world for all of known history.
And because Han was asking uncomfortable questions about the treatment of the slaves and about the fate of test subjects sent off world, and because Han was against the ambush and spoke out of turn to his commanding officer, the Imperials pin some crime on him. Something that won't just get him out of the way, but will humiliate him personally.
Something like dereliction of duty and cowardice under fire.
Han escapes because he's going to be shipped off to prison or put to death or something, and in the process he spares Chewie's life.
But he fails in stopping the overall plot. He doesn't save the Wookies. They're held in bondage for years after Han and Chewie flee.
And Han gives up. He's not distant and nonchalant because he's just a cool dude. He's protecting himself. He was a true believer, and it ended up too painful.
He gives up on the rules, because some people twist them to their own advantage and everyone who doesn't is going to lose.
And while he knows the Empire is bad, he also knows from personal experience that one man can't do anything to stand against them. He tried. He failed. They took away everything that mattered to him. His beliefs, his worldview. They wouldn't let him fly anymore.
So he becomes a selfish rogue. That makes the moment when he comes back for Luke that much more powerful, because he's not just buying in for the Rebellion.. he's buying into something, anything again.
He sees Luke make a difference all by himself. And when he comes back, he makes a difference all by himself. He realizes that one man can make a difference, and when that man cares about people and stands together with them, they can change the fate of the galaxy.
And two decades later, he returns to Kashyyk with Chewbacca, when the New Republic won't spare resources to free them, to try again.
That's what prequels are supposed to do. Not just telling you what you already know, but showing you something that makes the sequels different.
Make him a hard-core Imperialist and a racist. (Well, species-ist.) Make him strict and obsessed with the rules. (Have him bust up a card game that the non-coms are playing.) He's from some backwater world, he's bought in to all the propaganda, and the Empire lets him fly.
Instead of washing out of the Academy because he's just too cool for school, let him slowly learn that the propaganda is different from the reality, and that's hard for him to stomach.
Like maybe he's a pilot stationed on G5-623. He's told that the Wookies are just animals, and that using them as slaves is no different than harnessing a Bantha.
But he sees them doing maintenance on Imperial starships. He sees that they are smart and kind, or dumb and cruel, that they aren't just animals. They're individuals with as much passion and as much potential for good or evil as "people".
The Wookies rebel, and the Imperials offer a temporary truce to discuss the terms required to end the conflict. But the Empire betrays them and kills many of their leaders. Han is horrified by this, because it breaks the rules of conflict that have existed on every world for all of known history.
And because Han was asking uncomfortable questions about the treatment of the slaves and about the fate of test subjects sent off world, and because Han was against the ambush and spoke out of turn to his commanding officer, the Imperials pin some crime on him. Something that won't just get him out of the way, but will humiliate him personally.
Something like dereliction of duty and cowardice under fire.
Han escapes because he's going to be shipped off to prison or put to death or something, and in the process he spares Chewie's life.
But he fails in stopping the overall plot. He doesn't save the Wookies. They're held in bondage for years after Han and Chewie flee.
And Han gives up. He's not distant and nonchalant because he's just a cool dude. He's protecting himself. He was a true believer, and it ended up too painful.
He gives up on the rules, because some people twist them to their own advantage and everyone who doesn't is going to lose.
And while he knows the Empire is bad, he also knows from personal experience that one man can't do anything to stand against them. He tried. He failed. They took away everything that mattered to him. His beliefs, his worldview. They wouldn't let him fly anymore.
So he becomes a selfish rogue. That makes the moment when he comes back for Luke that much more powerful, because he's not just buying in for the Rebellion.. he's buying into something, anything again.
He sees Luke make a difference all by himself. And when he comes back, he makes a difference all by himself. He realizes that one man can make a difference, and when that man cares about people and stands together with them, they can change the fate of the galaxy.
And two decades later, he returns to Kashyyk with Chewbacca, when the New Republic won't spare resources to free them, to try again.
That's what prequels are supposed to do. Not just telling you what you already know, but showing you something that makes the sequels different.
