Solo: A Star Wars Story, in theaters May 25, 2018

[Negotiator]

32 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

 

"The fandom decided to make a stand." Getting a bit dramatic there, no?

What I don't get is why you've decided to reduce it down to a stupidly oversimplified "Us vs. them" shtick. "They" liked TLJ so they went to see Solo. "We" didn't like TLJ so we "made a stand." C'mon. That's silly. You're being silly.

I loved TLJ, and I had/have no desire to see Solo. Two others on this very page have said that they don't have that much interest in a solo Solo film. I get that The Last Jedi hurt your feelings, maybe even broke your heart a little, and despite my teasing I mean that legitimately, but c'mon. That's silly. You're being silly.

 i liked TLJ for different reasons than most everyone else.  Those who didn't like it have valid reason.  i haven't seen solo yet, no opinion of it.  if you kept your finger on the pulse of what was boiling with the fandom, you could have seen this happening.  i'm sure jon kasan's tweet was fuel to the fire.  

Jon Kasdan‏Verified account @JonKasdan

 

Sorry to have brought identity/gender politics into... NOPE. Not sorry AT ALL 'cause I think the GALAXY George gave birth to in '77 is big enough for EVERYONE: straight, gay, black, white, brown, Twi'lek, Sullustan, Wookiee, DROID & anything inbetween. #droidrights #weAREsentient

8:43 PM - 18 May 2018

[jvmacross]

55 minutes ago, kajnrig said:

You know what I'd like to see? A lightsaber deflecting (or being unable to deflect) a TIE Fighter blast. Could Force Lightning blow up a blaster's internal... energy... source... thing? Why doesn't a Jedi ever just use the Force to turn on their opponent's lightsaber while it's still on their belt?

Probably all could happen.....and the moment they did the internet would blow up with Church of the Force dorks complaining that that would never happen in "my Star Wars".....as if the franchise belongs to anyone except the media empire that paid 4 billion for it.....for the rest of us...we can either take it or leave it.....

[derex3592]

3 hours ago, mechaninac said:

^This!  It's not any of the pre-packaged exculpatory and deflecting excuses that shill critics and writers come up with to explain why Solo bombed.  The fact of the matter is that TLJ left an indelibly bad taste in the palate of many, if not most, Star Wars fans; and it wasn't even because the movie was excruciatingly and purposefully bad and, in the opinion of many, an insult to established characters, lacking in its new ones, and an overall betrayal of fan expectations of what a Star Wars story should be, even of the preceding TFA (a matter of personal opinion, to be sure)... It was Disney's/Lucasfilms' response to fan's criticism of what was done.  The dismissive, flippant, denigrating, tone-deaf way that the people in charge of the franchise treated their customers, the fans, is what caused Solo to fail, and it's what may cause Ep. IX to bomb too.  Most people who are told that their dislike for a product is indicative that there is something wrong with them and that they are too recalcitrant and stupid to understand the "brilliance" of the creative vision of the direction the company is taking the property... it's theirs to ruin, and ruin it they will if they persist in their hubris and ignoring one of the pillars of a successful business:  The customer is always right, listen to them and treat them with respect; and above all, give them what they want.

QFT!!!  My best friend and I, who are now 42, grew up together in the 80's and are HARD CORE OT lovers (and yeh, we bashed the prequels when they came out, but now looking back, they kinda weren't all that bad..minus Jar Jar obviously, and did have some good acting from Ewan McGregor and Ian McEmperor, and great lightsaber fight scenes)  talked today and decided NOT to go see Solo in the theater this Friday. We're going to see Deadpool 2.  I will see Solo when it hits Netflix or Amazon, as we both said, we're sure it's an ok flick, I haven't heard anyone just straight trash it of the people I hang around and work with.  But yeh, I'm over giving Disney and Kathleen Kennedy my Star Wars money.  Until she is fired and they hire writers/directors who "get it", we're out. 

 

 

[danth]

21 minutes ago, Negotiator said:

 i liked TLJ for different reasons than most everyone else.  Those who didn't like it have valid reason.  i haven't seen solo yet, no opinion of it.  if you kept your finger on the pulse of what was boiling with the fandom, you could have seen this happening.  i'm sure jon kasan's tweet was fuel to the fire.  

Jon Kasdan‏Verified account @JonKasdan

 

Sorry to have brought identity/gender politics into... NOPE. Not sorry AT ALL 'cause I think the GALAXY George gave birth to in '77 is big enough for EVERYONE: straight, gay, black, white, brown, Twi'lek, Sullustan, Wookiee, DROID & anything inbetween. #droidrights #weAREsentient

8:43 PM - 18 May 2018

Wow. So that's it then? Black people/women exist and therefor you guys are super pissed?

That's really all there is to it?

So "taking a stand" just means doubling down on white supremacism and misogyny? Please let me know if there's something else to it because I'm not seeing it.

[Negotiator]

No.  Its the disrespect to fan conserns of wanting a straight up star wars story without interjecting current social politics into them.  I think a lot of us love ashoka. Leiah  lando. mace just fine. along with many other different aliens and robots in the star wars universe

Edited May 30, 2018 by Negotiator

[Dynaman]

1 hour ago, mechaninac said:

That, right there, is part of the very attitude I was trying to articulate.  Thank you for making my point.

No no, thank you for making mine.

[Axelay]

Saw it this past week with my wife (who isn't a big Star Wars fan). Thoroughly enjoyed it, and will happily watch it again. It honestly did a good bit for me to wash the taste of The Worst Jedi... oh, I mean The Last Jedi... out of my mouth. For the first time in my 40+ year life, I appreciate Han Solo more than Luke Skywalker. I personally hope that we get at least one more Solo movie.

[Smacky]

3 hours ago, danth said:

Wow. So that's it then? Black people/women exist and therefor you guys are super pissed?

That's really all there is to it?

So "taking a stand" just means doubling down on white supremacism and misogyny? Please let me know if there's something else to it because I'm not seeing it.

Are you still on with this garbage?  Let’s recap.  People who hated Rose, an Asian female, are racists.  I’m an Asian male that despises her, not because she’s Asian, but because her character sucks and had no business being in the movie.  So wait, that must mean I’m mysogynistic.  I think it’s safe to assume 99.9% of fans that like the original trilogy also loved Princess Leia as a strong female lead, me being one of them.  Most of these fans also like Amidala, Rey, and Jyn Erso as strong female leads.   So that must mean I’m doubling down on white supremacy...you’ll have to rip the confederate flag from my dead body before you’ll ever make me watch another Star Wars movie!

Do you want to know the real reason many fans are throwing hate to Disney and Kathleen Kennedy?  Because she says stupid crap like I don’t care about the male fans.  We didn’t bring gender identity garbage into this mess, she did.

[Smacky]

5 hours ago, Dynaman said:

When a loud portion of that dislike boiled down to calling TLJ a SJW movie, then such people need to hear that they have something wrong with them.  

Right, saying people have something wrong with them because they have a particular opinion that doesn’t match yours makes you so righteous, doesn’t it.  I guess you are a perfect, well-adjusted human being with zero flaws and faults.

[seti88]

Solo just felt like a neat lil adventure, something like the OT.
I think i might go see it again! 

 

[peter]

Saw it this afternoon.  Stopped watching trailers and   videos about a week ago, turned off my brain and went into the theatre.

I liked it.  Nothing really stood out in my mind as being really crappy, some cringeworthy moments maybe, but nothing that made me feel like not wanting to watch it again when it's out on Netflix.

The guy who played Lando did a great job, and so did Woody.  The guy who played Solo did alrite...not perfect, but it was a good try.

I think I liked it better than TLJ.

 

 

Edited May 30, 2018 by peter

[ArchieNov]

Note: Abundant Spoilers in video

Since I never planned to watch the movie, I’m glad for this video.

 

[Tking22]

Oh man, this thread is getting heated! I saw it Saturday, enjoyed the hell out of it, wasn't a big fan of TFA or TLJ, but didn't vehemently hate them like they fraked my mother or something. A Boba solo film sounds like a waste, Obi-Wan would be a much better choice. I'll still watch episode 9 of course, but I'm not really expecting much, I love Star Wars, I will always watch more Star Wars, shows or movies, I just love Star Wars.

[Dynaman]

21 hours ago, Smacky said:

Right, saying people have something wrong with them because they have a particular opinion that doesn’t match yours makes you so righteous, doesn’t it.  I guess you are a perfect, well-adjusted human being with zero flaws and faults.

No - turning Social Justice into something to be mocked is disgusting, which is exactly what the term SJW tries to do.  I guess the SIWs Social Injustice Warriors, just can't handle a changing world.

[kajnrig]

So before this turns into even more of a crap-flinging contest, let's just rewind a bit here because the conversation's gotten hijacked by strong emotions and a poor ability to articulate them. The conversation was about why Solo isn't doing so well (relatively-speaking, that is; $100 million for any other movie would be a good first-weekend haul, no?), and @Negotiator chimed in that fully one-half of the fandom were so off-put by The Last Jedi (or perhaps more specifically the sociopolitical stances expressed by its creators) that they've decided to vote with their wallets. It's a half-baked argument easily contradicted by plenty of statements from this very thread - people who liked TLJ don't like/want to see this, people who hated TLJ love this, people who don't care to see this irrespective of their thoughts on TLJ... and so on and so forth. That's not to say that there WEREN'T people who were so put off by TLJ that they decided to vote with their wallets on this one, but to say that it's fully half the Star Wars audience is... well, silly, like I said before.

I'm still of the opinion that Solo just wasn't of that much interest to general audiences. I wonder if it would have done better had it been divorced from Star Wars entirely. Make it its own sci-fi romp with elements that call back to its Star Wars inspiration, perhaps. The reviews I hear of it indicate that its ties to Star Wars were awkward and hindering, anyway.

Word of mouth is that it's a good time, though; I'd be interested to see what its second-weekend numbers are, when I'll be going. If it has legs, then its poor first-weekend receipts don't matter as much.

Edited May 31, 2018 by kajnrig

[Negotiator]

could have sworn i said "disrespect".  never said anything about the quality of the movie.  i'm sure it's totally fine, dunno yet.

 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Negotiator

[kajnrig]

37 minutes ago, Negotiator said:

could have sworn i said "disrespect".  never said anything about the quality of the movie.  i'm sure it's totally fine, dunno yet.

Was that you? I'll be honest, after the first few comments throwing up a fuss about SJW this and SJW that I lost track of who was saying what.

But either way, I'm sure you're right to a degree, that some people felt slighted enough (be it by TLJ or Kathleen Kennedy or whoever or whatever) that they made a conscious decision to never support this movie or franchise again, but it's definitely not in the "half of the fans" ballpark, especially when a considerable number of fans - even those who have felt "disrespected" by... whatever - not only did not "make a stand" against the movie but ended up enjoying it quite a lot.

Edited May 31, 2018 by kajnrig

[Negotiator]

it may not be half the fans but following alot of vids, it is bigger than what others have scoffed at as being a "vocal minority", and i wouldn't say "never" support the franchise again.  We do love star wars and want to see it be better.  don't need to see droids with Earthly social issues happening long ago and a galaxy far far away unless that is part of the story.  btw everyone treats droids like crap, especially Han,  except the new generation that treat a ball that makes weird noises like it's a puppy.  they don't have to feed it and make sure it's alive.  they're just tools, at least k2s0 made a noble sacrifice, that was good.  Do not want to know if lando sticks it in a toaster.  i know that's not in the movie, but the info is out there before release.  also don't know anyone that said they liked the prequels for all the trade federation talk or palpatine's over convoluted plot to take over the republic.  while i said liked TLJ, in hindsight,  ya, it could have been much much better.  give the fans the luke they wanted to see.  "oh rey's a mary sue"  write her to struggle more.  earn it.  Marvel knows fanservice and they are rewarded for it.  they make the movies for fans, not just movies "they" would like for themselves.

but what's worse is diving into the race baiting of jon kasdan, (who only got the job because of his dad), that if you disagree with him, you are a white male/racist/mysoginist yada yada which would push that fanbase even further away.

Edited May 31, 2018 by Negotiator

[Focslain]

Did a little digging after I had time to digest the film personally. Have to agree on a few points:

1) Too close to other major releases. I'm not even talking about it being less then 6 months after TLJ, Marvel releases about every six months and does fine. Speaking of, yeah releasing so close to IW and with DP2 moving up it was a nice cock block against Solo.

2) Bad press. Granted Rogue One was reported to have production issues, it didn't have nearly the amount of bad press Solo did with issues going back almost a year prior to release.

3) Meh reviews. I believe this was mentioned earlier, but the lack luster reviews of the film by critics didn't help with it's already lowering expectations.

4) Poorly timed release. Believe it or not, Memorial weekend has been a low point for summer movies going on for almost a decade now, combined with point 1 it just hit even harder.

5) Why Solo? Seriously, of all the characters to choose from, why Solo? There was little interest in his origins past what we got in the OT and that was fine. There is more buzz on getting a Obi-wan movie and that was before Solo was announced. 

All of these factors just caused it to flop (by Disney standards), hopefully they learn (doubtful) and we get a better movie later.

[captain america]

I think Alex Becker is spot-on. Delivery like a sandpaper dildo, so fair warning for those with delicate sensibilities.

 

[Seto Kaiba]

2 hours ago, Focslain said:

5) Why Solo? Seriously, of all the characters to choose from, why Solo? There was little interest in his origins past what we got in the OT and that was fine. There is more buzz on getting a Obi-wan movie and that was before Solo was announced. 

 

Haven't had a chance to see Solo myself yet... but I'm honestly surprised this question would even be asked.

I've never been a big Star Wars fan myself, but even from my relatively minimal exposure to a pre-Disney Star Wars Expanded Universe I'd have been absolutely stunned if they hadn't tried to do at least one film about Han Solo's backstory.

Leaving aside the EU, Han was the only member of the original Star Wars trilogy's power trio who'd had the opportunity to lead an interesting life before the events of A New Hope.  Luke's uncle Owen kept him on the farm, well removed from anything approaching excitement or adventure, and Leia's foster family kept her pretty sheltered too.  The impression I always had was that he was kind of a fan favorite, being the loveable scoundrel and all.  I know the old EU had a bunch of stories where various parts of his shady past caught up to him, usually with lethal intent and all three movies in the original trilogy at least offered hints that Han had a complex and checkered past littered with unpleasant characters.  After all, the man was a famous professional smuggler... which, as Game of Thrones would remind us, means you're kind of doing it wrong as a smuggler.  (Then again, ending up in massive amounts of debt to a galactic crime lord is also "doing it wrong", right?)  From that perspective, doing an action-centric origin story for one of the franchise's most beloved characters would seem to be an incredibly obvious slam-dunk decision.  

(Of course, die-hard fans in most any franchise are nearly impossible to please... so there's that.)

Edited May 31, 2018 by Seto Kaiba

[UN Spacy]

LOL Star Wars fatigue.

[jvmacross]

1) ESB

2) SW

3) ROTJ

4) ROTS 4) CW 4) R

5) RO

6) AOTC

7 ) S

8 ) TPM

9) TFA

10) TLJ

 

Solo will likely go up or down once I have the ability for multiple rewatches...as of now I feel it was overall better than both sequels....but that's probably due to the film's lack of crapping on the heroes of the franchise.....although there was some weirdness and liberties taken with Lando's character, I really liked Lando in this movie.....

 

[Focslain]

48 minutes ago, Seto Kaiba said:

 

Haven't had a chance to see Solo myself yet... but I'm honestly surprised this question would even be asked.

I've never been a big Star Wars fan myself, but even from my relatively minimal exposure to a pre-Disney Star Wars Expanded Universe I'd have been absolutely stunned if they hadn't tried to do at least one film about Han Solo's backstory.

Leaving aside the EU, Han was the only member of the original Star Wars trilogy's power trio who'd had the opportunity to lead an interesting life before the events of A New Hope.  Luke's uncle Owen kept him on the farm, well removed from anything approaching excitement or adventure, and Leia's foster family kept her pretty sheltered too.  The impression I always had was that he was kind of a fan favorite, being the loveable scoundrel and all.  I know the old EU had a bunch of stories where various parts of his shady past caught up to him, usually with lethal intent and all three movies in the original trilogy at least offered hints that Han had a complex and checkered past littered with unpleasant characters.  After all, the man was a famous professional smuggler... which, as Game of Thrones would remind us, means you're kind of doing it wrong as a smuggler.  (Then again, ending up in massive amounts of debt to a galactic crime lord is also "doing it wrong", right?)  From that perspective, doing an action-centric origin story for one of the franchise's most beloved characters would seem to be an incredibly obvious slam-dunk decision.  

(Of course, die-hard fans in most any franchise are nearly impossible to please... so there's that.)

I'm sure there is some interest in backstory for most of the original heroes. Just that from what I was seeing when Solo was annouced that was the biggest question, why? 

Personally I wasn't interested even before disney took over but that was because I liked that his adventures were things of rumor and clouded. I was more interested in his post-RoJ adventures in the EU but that's me.

The movie wasn't bad, it was neat seeing the Kessel run and Lando was the best part. 

My only major complaint was L337, she was just grating, like near Jar-Jar levels of grating. 

[jvmacross]

If Jar-Jar had as much screen time and a similar ending in TPM as L337 had in Solo....maybe fans would have been more forgiving after all these years ...oh wait, but what to do about little Annie?....

Edited May 31, 2018 by jvmacross

[sh9000]

L337 sounded like Captain Phasma.

[jvmacross]

13 minutes ago, sh9000 said:

L337 sounded like Captain Phasma.

Let the wild fan theories begin! 

[electric indigo]

What I noticed about the marketing for Solo, it lacked momentum compared to TFA, RO, and even TLJ had at lead one trailer that made me think "Yes, this will be awesome". I don't remember any key visuals released for Solo that could compare to the Star Destroyer buried in sand or the Death Star construction from the previous new movies. 

[spacemanoeuvres]

The Growing Emptiness of the Star Wars Universe

“To begin with, “Solo” confronts the problems of any prequel. It feels unnecessary and anticipatory of the real action, filling in the blanks without pushing the story forward. We already know what will happen—Han will meet Chewbacca, make the Kessel Run in twelve parsecs, win the Millenium Falcon in a card game, and end up a rakish bachelor—and this puts any genuine suspense out of reach. It’s hemmed in, moreover, by the staid psychology of the “origin story,” according to which people are destined only to become themselves. 

In origin stories, people almost never contain multitudes, and circumstances rarely leave room for choice; “Solo” discovers that the young Han is pretty much identical to the older one, with the same skills, mannerisms, and values. It would’ve been interesting to learn that Han was once a sensitive boy with a musical gift, or a talented athlete with prospects for the pros, or a genuinely flawed person in need of improvement. Instead, he turns out to have no hidden self and nothing to regret. Our understanding of him does not change.”

[kajnrig]

8 hours ago, Negotiator said:

it may not be half the fans but following alot of vids, it is bigger than what others have scoffed at as being a "vocal minority"

I mean... that kind of IS the definition of a vocal minority... but I get what you mean: it's not an insignificant percentage of fans. That said, I do still think you're overestimating the actual size of the backlash to socially progressive politics in and around the Star Wars franchise because you're limiting the size of the fandom. I seriously doubt that this backlash is the main (or even a significant) contributor to Solo's less than stellar box office takes. Like I said, there are numerous fans on this very board who directly contradict your claims. (And as others have pointed out, there are other factors outside of "the pulse of the fandom" that may have contributed to this film's receipts.)

8 hours ago, Negotiator said:

don't need to see droids with Earthly social issues happening long ago and a galaxy far far away unless that is part of the story.  btw everyone treats droids like crap, especially Han,  except the new generation that treat a ball that makes weird noises like it's a puppy.  they don't have to feed it and make sure it's alive.  they're just tools, at least k2s0 made a noble sacrifice, that was good.

I hate that they're trying to make the droids sympathetic. Well, except for R2 and BB-8, because they were always kind of the pet mascots of the show. Y'know, just like every good anime has to have one. The trend of "main character" droids being sassy really irritates me, though. K2S0 is easily the worst offender so far (unless Leet gets a similar personality, which it seems it does), and its "noble sacrifice" irritates me a lot because, as you say, droids are by and large just more tools. The reason C3P0 was given an ounce of personality was because that's literally part of its programming: instruct on etiquette, translate, etc. What purpose does K2S0's tendency to make snide remarks serve? That Jyn and what's-his-face act all emotionally wounded upon its sacrifice just rubbed me more the wrong way in a movie already rubbing me the wrong way.

Blarhgh;laksjdf. Anyway.

8 hours ago, Negotiator said:

Marvel knows fanservice and they are rewarded for it.  they make the movies for fans, not just movies "they" would like for themselves.

Isn't making the movie they would like for themselves what made Star Wars Star Wars? I mean I get your point, but all the same, at some point it just comes off as entitled.

2 hours ago, Seto Kaiba said:

I know the old EU had a bunch of stories where various parts of his shady past caught up to him, usually with lethal intent and all three movies in the original trilogy at least offered hints that Han had a complex and checkered past littered with unpleasant characters.

I think you unintentionally hit on the reason yourself, and Focslain is more explicit in his response:

1 hour ago, Focslain said:

I was more interested in his post-RoJ adventures in the EU but that's me. 

His past coming up as part of future adventures would have been cool to see. Not so much his past in a vacuum; we all know that however said past forms his character, by the time of Star Wars he reforms himself. So his individual story, or the interesting parts of it, are already told throughout the original trilogy. How he deals with his past given the new life he's made for himself, that's where the interesting story material lies. (That said, they kind of mucked that part up, too, once TFA came out...)

1 hour ago, electric indigo said:

What I noticed about the marketing for Solo, it lacked momentum compared to TFA, RO, and even TLJ had at lead one trailer that made me think "Yes, this will be awesome". I don't remember any key visuals released for Solo that could compare to the Star Destroyer buried in sand or the Death Star construction from the previous new movies. 

The first trailer came out only a few months before the movie released, right? Definitely not enough time to drum up the interest you'd expect of a tentpole franchise like Star Wars.

[Focslain]

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

I hate that they're trying to make the droids sympathetic. Well, except for R2 and BB-8, because they were always kind of the pet mascots of the show. Y'know, just like every good anime has to have one. The trend of "main character" droids being sassy really irritates me, though. K2S0 is easily the worst offender so far (unless Leet gets a similar personality, which it seems it does), and its "noble sacrifice" irritates me a lot because, as you say, droids are by and large just more tools. The reason C3P0 was given an ounce of personality was because that's literally part of its programming: instruct on etiquette, translate, etc. What purpose does K2S0's tendency to make snide remarks serve? That Jyn and what's-his-face act all emotionally wounded upon its sacrifice just rubbed me more the wrong way in a movie already rubbing me the wrong way.

Blarhgh;laksjdf. Anyway.

 

K2s0 was much better then L337 and a better personality.

L337 is a perfect case-study for why droids need regular mind-wipes.

[Seto Kaiba]

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

I hate that they're trying to make the droids sympathetic. Well, except for R2 and BB-8, because they were always kind of the pet mascots of the show. Y'know, just like every good anime has to have one.

It does strike me as a bit odd, or perhaps inconsistent, to start trying to make droids sympathetic now after six movies worth of C-3P0 being the designated buttmonkey.  Maybe seven if we count that "red arm" moment in The Force Awakens.

IIRC wasn't there a pre-Disney declaration from Lucas that droids aren't really "alive"?  Like, they don't have a presence in the force and thus no soul?

 

 

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

The trend of "main character" droids being sassy really irritates me, though. K2S0 is easily the worst offender so far (unless Leet gets a similar personality, which it seems it does), and its "noble sacrifice" irritates me a lot because, as you say, droids are by and large just more tools. The reason C3P0 was given an ounce of personality was because that's literally part of its programming: instruct on etiquette, translate, etc. What purpose does K2S0's tendency to make snide remarks serve?

I suspect Bioware is ultimately to blame for that one.  I'm familiar with it only through memes and so on posted on imgur, but wasn't there an almost Bender-esque droid from one of their RPGs that kind of started the whole "snarky" droid schtick?  "If they liked it once, they'll love it twice".

C-3P0 was given an ounce of personality because it made him more effective comic relief, being a prissy coward who the characters could abuse with impunity.  It's hard to believe all of the smarm, pomposity, pessimism, and general cowardice would be useful for teaching etiquette and protocol, never mind serving as an interpreter.  The only thing separating him from A.J. Rimmer is that he's actually useful for something.

K-2SO's supposed to be a stolen Imperial security droid that was improperly memory-wiped and reprogrammed right?  The snark is probably an artifact of that.  Droids in general get a bit weird when they don't get regular memory wipes, so one that's running nonstandard software ought to develop all kinds of bizarre behaviors... like a peripheral running with default Windows drivers, it could behave in all sorts of unintended ways.

 

1 hour ago, kajnrig said:

His past coming up as part of future adventures would have been cool to see. Not so much his past in a vacuum; we all know that however said past forms his character, by the time of Star Wars he reforms himself. So his individual story, or the interesting parts of it, are already told throughout the original trilogy. How he deals with his past given the new life he's made for himself, that's where the interesting story material lies. (That said, they kind of mucked that part up, too, once TFA came out...)

Ultimately, it's probably just a botched attempt to appease the fans.  I'm given to understand that Han winning the Millennium Falcon from Lando is one of the more frequent callbacks in any story involving Han and Lando from the old EU, so it must have seemed a very tempting target for the studio looking to develop a broader Star Wars film universe.

Going forward kind of wasn't an option since Harrison Ford wanted out of Star Wars, and they'd already killed Han off entirely in The Force Awakens.  The only way to tell his story would be to work backwards.

[jenius]

Let's be honest, the handling of droids has always been ill conceived and inconsistent.

[Negotiator]

4 hours ago, kajnrig said:

I mean... that kind of IS the definition of a vocal minority... but I get what you mean: it's not an insignificant percentage of fans. That said, I do still think you're overestimating the actual size of the backlash to socially progressive politics in and around the Star Wars franchise because you're limiting the size of the fandom. I seriously doubt that this backlash is the main (or even a significant) contributor to Solo's less than stellar box office takes. Like I said, there are numerous fans on this very board who directly contradict your claims. (And as others have pointed out, there are other factors outside of "the pulse of the fandom" that may have contributed to this film's receipts.)

i think those fans could make a big impact on casual fans that are families and friends to their friends and families and on and on and on...to lift or sink a movie.

Quote

Isn't making the movie they would like for themselves what made Star Wars Star Wars? I mean I get your point, but all the same, at some point it just comes off as entitled.

no one is asking for special treatment or privilege. for the people that actually have been buying star wars products their whole lives, rebuying trilogy sets, sharing with their kids, the ones that kept star wars relevant, want good stories that feels like star wars.  not asking for the same thing and also not be mocked for expressing concern where the directors aren't on the same page with other directors, writers and producers.  if Feloni can make clone wars and rebels respecting the I.P. why can't these big budgeted movies?  i can recommend those all the time to casual fans.  I think George is the only one that could really make star wars for himself if he wanted. (imo)  Disney bought it to milk it not for love to keep it alive.  so now who are they making it for? 

Edited May 31, 2018 by Negotiator

[jenius]

As a white man, I don't feel attacked by any of the new films. The Last Jedi had writing problems but I didn't feel there were race or gender issues at the heart of them, or even politics really. I do think that SW his much better off not being a vehicle for social commentary, it can be more inclusive without making a big point of it.