Credit: LucasfilmSolo: A Star Wars Story (2018) is finally getting a sequel, however, while two main characters are returning, they won’t be played by the same actors as before.
The anthology Star Wars movie shorthanded as Solo hardly impressed fans and critics when it jumped into cinematic hyperspace in 2018. Fans were already feeling deflated and disenfranchised following the disastrous Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi (2017), so the idea of a fourth Star Wars movie in just three years (also following 2015’s The Force Awakens and 2016’s Rogue One) seemed exhausting to many.
Solo also suffered some problems behind the scenes, with director duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller being famously fired by Lucasfilm and replaced with Hollywood legend Ron Howard. While the finished product is far from the worst entry in the series, it still leaves much to be desired. But the real problem is how much it concerns itself with answering so many trivial questions about Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon.
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Another aspect of the film that rubbed fans up the wrong way was the casting of Alden Ehrenreich as a younger version of the titular smuggler, an iconic character Harrison Ford has now played six times (yes, including the unfunny joke that is 1978’s The Star Wars Holiday Special). Ehrenreich is rather good as Han Solo, but following in the footsteps of a heavyweight actor who had, at that point, played the character for 41 years, is no easy feat.
Either way, Solo became the first Star Wars movie to be considered a “box office bomb,” grossing only $393.2M worldwide against a budget somewhere in the region of $300M. While the film has since been followed up with canon novels and comic books, an official sequel remains highly unlikely. With that said, there is a brand-new Star Wars installment that will serve as an unofficial sequel, as it sees the return of two characters from the anthology film while also returning to the faraway galaxy’s criminal underworld.
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We already knew that the upcoming first-person, open-world video game Star Wars Outlaws (2024), which takes place between Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back (1980) and Star Wars: Episode VI — Return of the Jedi (1983), will feature a carbonized version of Han Solo. Unfortunately, with Solo out of action, this means that neither Harrison Ford nor Alden Ehrenreich will be returning to play the character.
But now that the game has dropped its official “story trailer,” which reveals that its main character Kay Vess (Humberly González) will go up against crime syndicates such as Crimson Dawn — which you’ll undoubtedly remember from Solo — it has been reported that Crimson Dawn lieutenant Qi’ra, who’s played by Emilia Clarke in the 2018 film, will make an appearance in the game as one of Kay’s many deadly adversaries.
While this is yet to be confirmed by Ubisoft or Lucasfilm Games, Game Informer reports that “Lady Qi’ra” will return in Outlaws, adding that Emilia Clarke won’t be reprising her role.
Check out the tweets below from Culture Crave (via @gameinformer):
Qi’ra is confirmed to appear in #StarWarsOutlaws
Qi'ra is confirmed to appear in #StarWarsOutlaws
(via @gameinformer) pic.twitter.com/fKTAFIdssT
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) April 9, 2024
Second tweet:
— Culture Crave 🍿 (@CultureCrave) April 9, 2024
Last August, Inside the Magic speculated about the possibility of seeing Qi’ra make an appearance in the game. Which other Star Wars characters might appear? Boba Fett? Din Djarin? Grogu? We’ll just have to wait and see.
Check out the brand-new story trailer for Outlaws below:
Per Ubisoft, here’s the synopsis:
Experience the first-ever open-world Star Wars game, set between the events of The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Explore distinct planets across the galaxy, both iconic and new. Risk it all as Kay Vess, a scoundrel seeking freedom and the means to start a new life, along with her companion Nix. Fight, steal, and outwit your way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates as you join the galaxy’s most wanted.
If you’re willing to take the risk, the galaxy is full of opportunity.
Outlaws will be released on PlayStation 5, Windows, and Xbox Series X/S on August 30.
Are you excited about Star Wars Outlaws? Are you a fan of Solo? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!
