In perhaps the best look yet at Han Solo’s costuming in Solo: A Star Wars Story, we have a few questions about the choices being made.
It’s not that we don’t think the people who work at Lucasfilm don’t know what they’re doing with 40 years of canon and perhaps one of the most famous characters ever, let alone in Star Wars. It’s just that when it comes to a movie like Solo: A Star Wars Story, when fans are already feeling a bit unsettled about it, it seems a little odd to make color choices like the following.
The fans over at r/StarWarsLeaks found this photo, originally published in USA Today.
At least Chewbacca’s consistent. Then again, when you’re 190, you probably don’t see much need in changing your personal style:
"New Solo Image from USA Today from StarWarsLeaks"
Now, this doesn’t look like it should be all that bad, right? After all, this is basically a slight variant on the Han aesthetic established in the original trilogy (and then picked up on in his appearance in The Force Awakens): jacket, looser shirt and close-fitting pants. In fact, I even wrote about why Han wearing black in the original trilogy matters!
This, though, probably signals that the Han we know will be a little less “a hermit who flirts with one girl and then gets nervous about it” and a little more an actual criminal. The jacket even has black shoulders just so we know that he’s more of a bad guy. The overall effect is too much, frankly. While the desert surroundings provide visual contrast, what happens when Han goes somewhere dark? We’ll lose him.
There are two more minor notes here. First, if you look closely, it appears that Han has already earned at least one set of Corellian bloodstripes, the second-class ones. Second, the hair. We here at Culturess have already expressed our misgivings about the hairstyle, but that peep of chest hair seems… excessive. Here’s Han with a very open shirt in A New Hope.
Not that we’re asking for consistency in chest hair, but it just seems strange, that’s all. It’s very noticeable.
Next: 4 things we learned from the new Solo trailer
Solo: A Star Wars Story will be in theaters May 25.