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Is Harrison Ford in the new Han Solo movie, Solo: A Star Wars story? Does the legendary actor have a cameo in the film? Warning: Movie spoilers ahead.
The answer to the question, unfortunately for Harrison Ford’s legion of fans, is that, no, Harrison Ford does not appear nor have a cameo in the new Han Solo movie. However, the actor reportedly loved the new film, and the actor who plays him in the new Han Solo movie, Alden Ehrenreich, met with Ford about the character.
“I had never heard Harrison effusive about anything, and he was raving about it,“ director Ron Howard told Variety about Ford’s reaction to the new film. Variety quoted Howard as saying that Harrison Ford “adores it” of the new movie and was “glowing” about it. Ehrenreich “…met with the role’s originator, Harrison Ford, to try to gauge the character. His approach was to absorb as much as he could early on so he could then just forget the specifics and draw on instinct, rather than lean on impersonation,” Variety reported.
“Remember to never let them tell you the odds.” #HanSolo
EW.com reports that Harrison Ford’s advice to Ehrenreich was “Tell them I told you everything you needed to know, and that you can’t tell anyone.” The site reports that Ford gave the younger actor insight into his iconic character.
Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in the original Star Wars trilogy, also does not appear in the new movie. The movie takes place about 10 years before Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope. It’s essentially a prequel that fills in the back story of Solo’s life before the Rebellion, and it does show a younger Solo meeting Lando Calrissian, as well as his sidekick Chewbacca (the younger Lando is played by Donald Glover).
However, because the characters are supposed to be much younger, it wouldn’t have made sense for Harrison Ford or Billy Dee Williams to show up. That didn’t stop some fans from wondering if the filmmakers would slip in a sly reference to them through a cameo. However, they did not do so.
Alden Ehrenreich, who will play Han Solo, attends the Star Wars Celebration 2016 at ExCel on July 17, 2016 in London, England.
According to IMDB, Ehrenreich’s film debut was in the 2009 Francis Ford Coppola film Tetro. He’s also had roles in the movies Beautiful Creatures, Blue Jasmine, and Hail, Caesar!
There are two interesting cameos that you can look for in the new Han Solo movie, however.
Warwick Davis
35 years ago today, the film that changed my life was released. #ReturnOfTheJedi I didn’t know it then but George Lucas had started my acting career & how fitting that 35 years later, I can celebrate my return to that galaxy far, far away for #SoloMovie. The Force is with me.
Davis acknowledged the cameo on Twitter, writing, “35 years ago today, the film that changed my life was released. #ReturnOfTheJedi I didn’t know it then but George Lucas had started my acting career & how fitting that 35 years later, I can celebrate my return to that galaxy far, far away for #SoloMovie. The Force is with me.”
Warwick Davis appeared in Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi as the lead Ewok Wicket. “Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace also found him portraying a Rodian slave, a human weapons dealer, a street trader, and Yoda in some shots,” EW.com reported. He’s been seen in other small roles in Star Wars movies, including The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi, playing everything from “an alien resident of Maz Kanata’s castle” to “a militant insurgent group on Jedha,” according to EW. He reprises his character of Weazel in Han Solo.
Darth Maul
The surprise ending in the Han Solo movie reveals that Darth Maul, the villain that people thought was dead, is running the major crime syndicate in the film. Darth Maul was the villain in the Phantom Menace, and the timeline doesn’t make much sense for him to be alive because he was killed in that movie, which was supposed to have occurred years before the Han Solo movie’s time period. That timeline has confused a lot of viewers. Clone Wars had revealed that Darth Maul lived through his supposedly fatal encounter with Obi-Wan, though.
Ray Park plays Darth Maul.