Now less than four months out from the release of their latest extension of George Lucas’s toy line, Disney and Lucasfilm have finally dropped some footage from Solo: A Star Wars Story. Given all the talk of the film’s on-set problems—including the firing of directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller, and rumors that an acting coach was belatedly brough on for star Alden Ehrenreich—this 45-second Super Bowl spot and minute-and-a-half teaser aren’t likely to completely assuage anyone’s fears about Solo‘s worth. But they do give us our first idea of what Han Solo was up to before he evolved into Harrison Ford.
It seems Han was “running scams on the streets since [he] was ten” and got kicked out of the flight academy before he and his nude, hair-covered friend fell in league with Woody Harrelson’s Tobias Beckett and his criminal crew. Among those fellow scoundrels: Thandie Newton’s hard-ass mercenary (name TBD), Emilia Clarke’s Qi’Ra, and Donald Glover’s smirking young Lando Calrissian. And if you thought it was impressive that Billy Dee Williams’ Lando managed to pull off a cape in Empire Strikes Back, wait until you see the oversized fur coat Glover’s version wears. It looks like he borrowed it from a well-to-do widow from the Upper East Side, but damn if he doesn’t pull it off.
We’ll see if director Ron Howard can pull off a similarly unlikely success when Solo: A Star Wars Story arrives May 25.
