According to new reports, Woody Harrelson may head to the galaxy far, far away to play Han Solo’s mentor in the smuggler’s solo film.
This is a very similar situation to adding Forest Whitaker to Rogue One in a part that ultimately amounted to about five minutes of screentime and a tie-in to the animated series. Realistically, Mr. Whitaker didn’t need to be in that movie, but his name carries considerable clout. And because of “clout”, Lucasfilm is reportedly looking to add Woody Harrelson to their Han Solo standalone film.
As of right now, Harrelson appears to be the “top choice” to play Han Solo’s mentor opposite Alden Ehrenreich’s Han Solo. Basically, that would make Harrelson the civilian equivalent to Ben Kenobi in A New Hope.
I mean, I guess they look similar:
Image via Lucasfilm
However, I like my actors in moderation. This isn’t like the old days where Jennifer Aniston and Kate Hudson owned romcoms while Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt dominated everything else. We need diversity. There are too many actors struggling to get in the business to have someone like Woody Harrelson go from The Hunger Games and Now You See Me to Planet of the Apes and Star Wars. Plus, he has True Detective. Don’t get me wrong — I like Billy Hoyle. But Star Wars does better when they pluck relatively unknown actors out of nowhere and turn them into household names. Currently, the Han Solo movie consists of a whole bunch of people we already know, like Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Chewbacca and now, Woody Harrelson. I’m afraid for what this will do to the franchise.
Because here’s what I see happening: Mainstream actors + a movie every year = Star Wars fatigue. I already don’t want to see this movie, and this possible addition doesn’t help.
Related Story: Is the Han Solo Movie Getting Pushed Back to December 2018?
The Han Solo movie is slated for May 2018, but we shall see.