One of the complaints fans had about The Force Awakens was the death of Han Solo wasn’t powerful enough. It happened too quickly and we never saw anyone process it. Well, maybe that’s because his death was so big, it’s going to reverberate into The Last Jedi too.
The death of Han Solo will reverberate in The Last Jedi. Image: Disney
In a new set of interviews with Entertainment Weekly, the cast and crew revealed that not only is Solo’s death weighing heavily on his son (and murderer) Kylo Ren, as well as his best friend Chewbacca, it will also play a key role in Rey’s motivations in the sequel.
You see, though their time together was brief, Solo believed in Rey and she felt a mentor/paternal connection to the smuggler. So, as the story moves into The Last Jedi, she has a very big issue with one Mr Ben Solo.
“She just doesn’t understand Kylo,” Daisy Ridley tells EW. “When all she wanted was parents, why would a person who has parents do that? It’s so beyond comprehension, it’s ridiculous. So she has grief for the loss and then there’s anger. To be honest, she couldn’t understand doing something like that, let alone to your parents.”
As for Kylo himself, director Rian Johnson revealed that Ren isn’t over that little act of patricide either.
“He’s definitely been knocked off base,” Johnson said. “The defeat that he had at the end of The Force Awakens, but even bigger than that, his huge defining act which, spoiler alert, is the murder of his father… that’s the more interesting thing to dive into. How has he dealt with that in his head? Where is he at in terms of that act and what does that mean for him?”
Johnson also confirmed that Chewbacca still isn’t over Solo’s death.
“Chewie’s doing all right. It’s tough. It was obviously a big loss for him, but, you know, he’s Chewie. He’s resilient,” Johnson said. “He’s got broad Wookiee shoulders, and he also has a new mission. He’s got Rey, and she’s someone that Han, to a certain extent, handed the keys to. So I think that that helps.”
And though Johnson doesn’t talk about what Solo’s death could mean to Luke or Leia, he did say that “a figurative ghost of Han had to be present throughout this entire film”.
Read more about Solo’s role in the movie, plus the expanded role of Captain Phasma and smaller role of Maz Kanata, in the below link. The Last Jedi hits theatres December 14.