- 13 minutes ago
What you never knew about the nerf-herder..
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00After three original trilogy movies, a few sequel appearances, and even his own spin-off adventure,
00:06it's safe to say that fans have gotten to know the lovable rogue that is Han Solo pretty well.
00:11But there are still more than a few Solo secrets out there that many a Han Stan is yet to
00:16discover.
00:17So I'm Gareth, this is WhatCultureStarWars, and here are 10 things you didn't know about Han Solo.
00:23Oh, and because just about everyone already knows that he was originally going to be a green alien,
00:27and Harrison Ford wanted him to be killed off during the original trilogy,
00:30you'll be relieved to learn they will not be discussed in the following entries.
00:33Number 10, George Lucas wanted to make the Solo movie before Disney bought Lucasfilm.
00:38Solo, a Star Wars story, has gone down in history as one of the biggest flops of the Disney Star
00:43Wars era,
00:44struggling at the box office despite being a pretty solid and fun adventure.
00:48It wasn't Disney who first came up with the idea to give this legendary smuggler his own movie, though.
00:54George Lucas was actually interested in making a Solo film,
00:57with the Star Wars creator having a meeting with Kathleen Kennedy and Lawrence Kasdan about that potential project,
01:02three weeks before the House of Mouse bought Lucasfilm in 2012.
01:06Kasdan, who helped write the screenplays for both Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back, and Episode 6, Return of the
01:12Jedi,
01:13wasn't really sure if he wanted to write more Star Wars material.
01:16But when the idea of doing something with Solo, his favourite character, came up, he jumped at the chance.
01:22Even after Disney bought Lucasfilm, they were still up for another Solo adventure,
01:27and were happy to let Kasdan work with his son Jonathan to continue writing the script.
01:32What followed was the second of Disney's Star Wars stories.
01:36Number 9, The Secret Episode 8, The Last Jedi Easter Egg
01:39Speaking of the Disney era of Star Wars movies,
01:43Episode 8, The Last Jedi, was the only sequel trilogy movie the iconic Han Solo did not pop up in.
01:49But he actually sort of did, in a way.
01:51Early on in that middle chapter of the latest trilogy,
01:54Paige Tico eventually managed to release a ton of bombs from her ship,
01:59with these then crashing down onto the First Order Dreadnought below.
02:03Watch closely just as those bombs begin to fall though,
02:07and you'll spot some white Orabesh writing scribbled on some of them.
02:10There's even a smiley face.
02:12The bomb closest to the screen for a second or two after Paige hits the big red flashing button
02:17actually contains a little nod to Ben Solo's dad.
02:20The words Han Says Hi can be found on that explosive object.
02:24Now sure, director Rian Johnson may not have been able to work with the great Harrison Ford in this movie,
02:30but he still found a way to add a little Han into his film.
02:33This Secret Solo Easter Egg was not the only way that Johnson saluted the icon in Episode 8 of course,
02:39as the projection of Luke Skywalker would hand Leia Organa Solo's golden dice
02:43before they'd eventually evaporate along with the illusion.
02:47Yes, I am not proud of that joke.
02:49But speaking of Easter Eggs in Star Wars, I want to know right now,
02:51what is your favourite Easter Egg or cameo in any Star Wars project over the years?
02:56Let me know in the comments down below.
02:58Number 8, what he got up to after the original trilogy ended.
03:01While the average Star Wars fan is likely well aware of what Han Solo got up to throughout the original
03:06trilogy,
03:06and how his time within the galaxy far, far away came to an end in the sequels,
03:11how he spent the three decades in between those films isn't really as well known.
03:16The Expanded Universe version of events show him getting involved in some quite unexpected situations,
03:21more on that later,
03:23but his Disney canon history is also just as fascinating.
03:26You see, after getting married to Leia Organa,
03:29Han would help his pal Chewbacca free the Wookiees of Kashyyyk,
03:32who had been enslaved by the Empire,
03:34as seen in the Aftermath Life Debt novel by Chuck Wendig.
03:38From here, Solo and Organa would welcome their child, Ben, into the world, of course.
03:42Then, after years of soaring across the galaxy in his precious Millennium Falcon,
03:47Solo put these skills to good use.
03:49He actually became a racer for a time,
03:51even returning to his home planet of Corellia to race in the Gauntlet.
03:55Claudia Gray's Bloodline book also revealed that Solo ended up owning a shipping company at one point, too,
04:01and ultimately managed the prestigious Five Sabres Racing Championship in the years after the Battle of Endor.
04:07You all know what happened next.
04:08Solo and Leia would sadly separate after their sons fall to the dark side,
04:13with the former and his pal Chewbacca then going back to their smuggling ways.
04:17Number 7, Han Solo actually was an Earth Herder.
04:20While on the subject of interesting periods in Star Wars history
04:24that didn't make it onto the big screen,
04:26something that went down during the time between Episode 4 and New Hope and Episode 5,
04:30The Empire Strikes Back,
04:31actually somewhat changes the way you'll look at one rather famous insult forever.
04:36Who will ever forget the moment when Leia Organa called her future hubby
04:39a stuck-up, half-witted, scruffy-looking Nerf Herder?
04:42It turns out that there's a little bit of truth to this outburst, though.
04:45After the first Death Star was destroyed,
04:49Solo and Luke Skywalker ended up taking a smuggling job
04:52to earn some cash in the Marvel Star Wars 2015 comic series.
04:56What were they tasked with moving across the galaxy?
04:59You guessed it, Nerfs.
05:00A lot of Nerfs.
05:02These illegal space buffalo were crammed inside of the Millennium Falcon
05:05in the 17th issue of the comic,
05:07with Solo not exactly being happy about so many smelly animals making a mess in his ship,
05:12as they eventually delivered them to Ibar.
05:15So this does technically mean that Solo was a Nerf Herder,
05:18for a little while at least,
05:19though he probably didn't enjoy being reminded of the time his ship was well and truly nerfed.
05:24Number 6, his stepdad was almost in Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back.
05:28The late Lee Brackett wrote the first draft of what would later become Episode 5,
05:33The Empire Strikes Back.
05:34That script included a ton of fascinating ideas
05:37that fans would ultimately never see on the big screen, though,
05:41and many have never even heard of.
05:43One of the most intriguing things found on these pages
05:46was the fact Han Solo was seen being asked to track down his stepfather,
05:50Ovan Marakel, in this version of the story.
05:52Why did Leia want him to go on this mission?
05:55Well, Marakel was the leader of the Transport Guild,
05:57and apparently the most powerful man in the galaxy next to the Emperor,
06:01according to Brackett's script,
06:03and Organa wanted him to join the Rebellion's side in the Galactic Civil War.
06:07However, Marakel wouldn't actually physically appear in that draft,
06:10with Han only deciding to go and find the man
06:13he didn't have the greatest relationship with towards the end of the movie.
06:17Brackett would sadly pass away due to cancer not long after turning in her draft.
06:21Lucas and Lawrence Kasdan would then rewrite the screenplay,
06:24and though some of Brackett's ideas remained,
06:27like Luke's training with Yoda, known as Minch in Brackett's draft,
06:30all mentions of Marakel disappeared,
06:32robbing the galaxy of this family reunion.
06:35Interestingly, a version of Ovan would eventually show up as Han's dad in the new canon in the end,
06:41though he would only appear in the Han Solo and Chewbacca comic series,
06:44and still hasn't been shown on screen.
06:46If you've not got a bad feeling about this list right here,
06:49then why not hit that subscribe button down below for more What Culture Star Wars in your life?
06:54Number 5, his blaster was based on Winston Churchill's favourite.
06:58A number of things spring to mind when the name Han Solo is thrown into a conversation.
07:02The smuggler's cheeky grin,
07:04his ability to always deliver a killer one-liner,
07:07and of course, his tried-and-tested weapon of choice,
07:10the DL-44 modified heavy blaster pistol.
07:14Solo would use this iconic gun to fire shots off at many a stormtrooper,
07:18and famously had it yanked right out of his hand by Darth Vader.
07:21But did you know that this smuggler's favourite weapon
07:24was actually based on another famous figure's go-to gun?
07:27That's right, none other than Winston Churchill
07:29was a big fan of the real Mauser C-96 German pistol
07:33that was used to create Solo's blaster in Star Wars.
07:36To create the DL-44 seen on screen,
07:39a vintage German Hensault scope was added to the C-96,
07:43along with a flash hider from a Mauser MG-81 machine gun.
07:47And if that wasn't interesting enough for you,
07:49not only was the C-96 originally used for Harrison Ford's gun
07:52also used for the Frank Sinatra-starring 1967 film The Naked Runner,
07:57this World War I-era pistol was also sold for over a million dollars at an auction.
08:02That's an expensive gun.
08:04Number four, he was almost in episode three, Revenge of the Sith.
08:07Back when George Lucas was putting together the conclusion of his prequel trilogy,
08:11the creator of the galaxy Far, Far Away had an idea
08:14that would have involved a young Han Solo popping up on Kashyyyk.
08:17In an early draft of episode three, Revenge of the Sith,
08:20Lucas had the 13-year-old Han show up on screen
08:23and deliver the line,
08:25I found part of a transmitter droid near the East Bay.
08:28I think it's still sending and receiving signals.
08:30Not only that, it would have also been revealed
08:32that Chewbacca raised the eventual smuggler on his homeworld.
08:36He'd also say that aforementioned line to none other than Master Yoda,
08:40which would have been the first time the pair had ever interacted on the big screen.
08:44But Lucas soon wisely decided he didn't fancy dropping the original trilogy legend into the story
08:49and scrapped the cameo as he continued scribbling,
08:52eventually revealing in Paul Duncan's The Star Wars Archives Episode 1-3 1999-2005 book,
08:59I rejected it after I read it.
09:00I said this is stupid.
09:02I was being a smart aleck,
09:03tying things together and being a little too clever for my own good.
09:06Number three, Leia wasn't the only person he married, sort of.
09:09Returning to the spell between Episodes 4 and 5 now,
09:13not only did the Marvel's Star Wars 2015 comic series reveal Han Solo was actually an Earth Herder,
09:19it also brought with it the surprising news of him being married to a woman called Sana Staros.
09:24Well, kind of.
09:25Before he ultimately tied the knot with Leia Organa after Episode 6, Return of the Jedi,
09:29Han and Staros pretended to get married to pull off a scam.
09:33The two were trying to execute a robbery together,
09:35but Solo would ultimately disappear with her cut.
09:38What a scoundrel.
09:39So, when she reappeared in the sixth issue of that comic and confronted Solo in front of a surprise Leia,
09:45Sana was understandably not very happy.
09:47She even threatened to turn Leia over to the Empire.
09:50Hell hath no fury and all that.
09:52After eventually deciding not to hand Leia over to the Imperials, though,
09:56she'd actually work alongside Solo and Organa,
09:59with a woman who can technically call herself Han's first wife,
10:02becoming an important character in her own right,
10:04and also eventually starring in her own comic series in 2023, too.
10:09Number two, he once won the planet of Dathomir in Legends.
10:12You know that spooky planet Maul calls home?
10:15The same one many a Nightsister has been seen on over the years?
10:19Well, Han Solo owned that world once.
10:21As barmy as that sounds, it's actually something that went down within the Expanded Universe.
10:26Solo won the deed to the planet in a game of Sabacc after learning that a prince had proposed to
10:31Leia Organa.
10:32In another example of Solo being a bit awful to the women in his life,
10:36he'd then kidnap Leia and take her to his newly won world,
10:40after she'd pointed out that he had actually just been conned.
10:43That planet was in the part of the galaxy that belonged to the warlord Singe, you see.
10:47His plan to then win her over on this world didn't exactly work out too well,
10:51as Solo was soon captured by Force Witches.
10:55Nightsisters.
10:56Serves him right.
10:57Both he and Leia would eventually survive the ordeal, though,
11:00and still ended up marrying in Dave Wolverton's The Courtship of Princess Leia novel,
11:04ending this somewhat surreal story on a happy note, at least.
11:08Number one, another famous Han Solo line was created by Harrison Ford.
11:12It's been mentioned a million and one times over the years,
11:15so there's a good chance you've already heard the story of Harrison Ford
11:18coming up with the iconic I Know line in Episode 5, The Empire Strikes Back.
11:23What you probably didn't know, however,
11:25is that the megastar was also responsible for another undeniably cool Solo response in the original trilogy.
11:31Remember that scene in the first Star Wars when Luke Skywalker blasts a TIE fighter
11:35using one of the Millennium Falcon's quad laser cannons?
11:38Well, as Mark Hamill would reveal when talking to the Russo brothers on their Pizza Film School podcast,
11:43Han Solo's brilliant reaction to him celebrating wasn't entirely scripted.
11:48After Han says,
11:49Great Kid, the addition of Don't Get Cocky was all ford.
11:53It's a brilliant little ad-lib that took Lucas' rather dull line
11:56and made it feel like something this cocky smuggler would unquestionably say in the heat of battle.
12:01And it's just one of the many moments that helped make Han Solo
12:04one of the coolest figures in the galaxy.
12:06Everything in the galaxy is in total.
12:06Everything in the galaxy is the
12:06computer.ID
Comments