Of course, Star Wars is one of the best sci-fi franchises. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean that everything from the galaxy far, far away has gone over well. In fact, plenty of Star Wars projects had to deal with consternation upon release. But one Disney-era Star Wars film has already started the transition from failure to essential viewing. Solo: A Star Wars Story is approaching its fourth anniversary, and if you haven’t seen it (or hated it the first time), it’s time to give it a go.
When Disney cast Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, many fans wrote the film off. Follow that up with directorial upheaval and extended rewrites, and Solo never really stood a chance of success. Even still, it garnered modest commercial success and respectable reviews. But more important than that, Solo explained a number of things that are essential to understanding future Star Wars canon.
Solo Added To the Line of Disrespected Star Wars Villains
Star Wars has a habit of introducing super cool villains at the beginning of movies but leaving them short-lived and under-utilized. Darth Maul, Jabba the Hutt and Boba Fett are prime examples, and in Solo, Lady Proxima adds her name to the list. Aptly nicknamed the White Worm, Lady Proxima was a local crime boss on Corellia at the start of the movie, but she ended up being inconsequential to the story as a whole.
“Solo” Wasn’t Han’s Real Last Name
It’s fair to say that Han Solo isn’t really a typical name for Star Wars, but nothing had explained where the name came from — at least until Solo. As Han was fleeing Corellia, he joined the Imperial Navy, but he didn’t have a last name to put on the form. When the recruiting officer asked Han who his people were, he simply said that he was alone, which made the officer put down “Solo” as his last name.
Solo Explained Chewbacca’s Life Debt to Han
In Star Wars Legends, Chewbacca owed Han a Life Debt, and while that fact was still canon after Legends was disregarded, Solo changed how it started. In the film, Han helped Chewie escape from imprisonment on Mimban and saved him from slamming into a rock while stealing Coaxium on Vandor. And those two incidents were enough for the Wookiee to pledge his life to Han.
Solo Proved Star Wars Isn’t Just About the Jedi and Sith
Before Solo came out, Star Wars had always been about important people doing important things. Palpatine rose to power and destroyed the Jedi before Luke and the Rebellion stopped him. Even Rogue One (which featured relatively unimportant characters) was about a major plot point — the Death Star plans. Solo, on the other hand, was about everyday activities in the criminal underworld, which offered a whole new look at the galaxy.
The Millennium Falcon Was a Beautiful Piece of Art in Solo
By the time of the Original Trilogy, the Millennium Falcon looked like a piece of junk. Lando even exclaimed, “What have you done to my ship?” when he saw it in The Empire Strikes. And Solo gave that line a very clear meaning by showcasing the pristine condition that Lando kept his ship in. In fact, before Han and his Wookiee got their greasy paws on it, it was a gorgeous piece of craftsmanship.
The Millennium Falcon Was Smarter Than It Looked in Solo
The Millennium Falcon might have looked like a piece of junk, but it had one of the best computers in the galaxy. And as Solo explained, that had everything to do with Lando’s droid, L3-37. When the independent droid was destroyed on Kessel, Lando uploaded her brain into the Falcon’s navigational system, which allowed them to escape Kessel.
The Kessel Run Was Immortalized in Solo
To Star Wars fans, it’s common knowledge that the Millennium Falcon made the Kessel Run “in less than 12 parsecs.” But that never made any sense because parsecs are a measurement of distance. So, of course, Solo explained that, too. While escaping from their mess on Kessel, Han went dangerously close to a Black Hole called the Maw, which allowed him to cut the distance down from 20 parsecs to about 11.5.
Crimson Dawn Became a Major Player in the Galaxy in Solo
There are a lot of important criminal organizations in Star Wars. Black Sun was one of the most important in Legends, and the Pykes were major players in The Book of Boba Fett. However, Solo brought Crimson Dawn to a new level of galactic importance. As Darth Maul’s primary muscle, the organization was positioned well during Solo. And now, the group is getting even more attention in the Crimson Reign comic series.
Han Won the Millennium Falcon in Solo
The Original Trilogy hinted that Han had won the Millennium Falcon from Lando in a bet, and Solo finally elaborated on that exchange. Early in the film, Lando beat Han in a game of Sabacc by cheating, but at the end, Han beat Lando at his own game — by cheating. Lando couldn’t call him out without exposing his own cheating habits, though, so Han made off with the legendary ship.
Darth Maul Returned To Live-Action in Solo
Star Wars: The Clone Wars showed Darth Maul losing a duel to Darth Sidious, but after that point, he didn’t appear again in the series. While The Son of Dathomir comics explained what happened to him, the next time that fans saw him on screen was in the tragic Star Wars Rebels episode, “Twin Suns.” So, his appearance in Solo bridged the gap between the two series by paving the way for The Clone Wars Season 7 and Maul’s affiliation with the galaxy’s underworld.