Marvel Comics have officially announced that a new Han Solo mini-series will begin in June. The mini-series will be five issues in total set between Star Wars Episode VI: A New Hope and Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. The mini-series is written by Marjorie Liu (Astonishing X-Men) and Mark Brooks (Amazing Spider Man) provides the artwork.
A synopsis for the mini-series can be read below:
The story involves a starship race known as the Dragon Void Run. “Han’s been dreaming of entering this thing for his entire life. He finally gets the chance, except there’s a catch: Leia thinks there are spies in the Rebellion, and she doesn’t dare send anyone else to retrieve these vital informants who are on various planets in the system.
As Han and Chewie start sheltering these Rebel contacts aboard the Millennium Falcon, the Corellian pilot fights the pull of his own ego’s tractor beam: If he ditches the mission, maybe he can actually win this thing.”
Liu is quoted as saying the following on working with Lucasfilm and Marvel to come up with the idea for the series:
“Basically, I was told that the story takes place between Episodes IV and V, and then they sort of just let me loose. I turned in several different ideas, but the core of them — what I kept at the front of my imagination: He’s this working-class dude who lives paycheck to paycheck who has a business to run. He’s the Han we know and love. He’s a con artist, he’s a smuggler, he’s this wisecracking, streetwise dude, but he’s got this internal conflict where there wasn’t one before. He’s really trying to figure out who he is.”
In addition, she also revealed her inspiration for the series. She said:
“I started thinking about this old movie from the ‘80s that I really enjoyed, which is Cannonball Run. I thought, okay, what if this is sort of like Han Solo in Cannonball Run in space? So, I played with that and it finally came together in the story where there’s this infamous starship race. It’s the pilot dream race. Everyone wants to be in it, everyone dreams of winning it. The race is sort of a cover that will allow him to go on this mission for [Leia], but at the same time, even though the race isn’t a priority, it’s a real struggle for him because he knows he needs to focus, but he’s on the race of a lifetime.”
She then talked about writing Chewbacca in the mini-series by saying:
“To me, Chewie was always the heart and soul of the relationship. He was like the better angel, where Han is way more comfortable skirting the edges of morality. Chewie will go along, but he’s like, “Hey, man. This isn’t right.” I always loved that about him. I love that he is so incredibly loyal to Han. They’re absolutely 100 percent family. I always loved that Chewie can tell Han these hard truths that Han doesn’t really want to hear. Even though technically we can’t understand what Chewie is saying, we get it. We all understand.”
Finally, Liu hinted that the events in The Force Awakens might have affected how she wrote this mini-series. She said:
“It has actually colored how I think about the book. That’s been sort of an internal conversation with myself, whether I change certain beats, whether I do certain things to reflect this now-future canon that I know is coming down the line for him. I haven’t quite answered that for myself yet, but it’s definitely in my head. It can’t not be, because writing the book feels very bittersweet in a way.”
Liu also revealed that Princess Leia Organa will appear in the mini-series and a new alien called Loo Re Anno will be introduced. Loo Re Anno is supposedly a legendary racer and part of a dying species.
A couple of pages from the first issue can be seen below:
The first issue of the Han Solo mini-series will be released in June.
Thoughts on this announcement? Are you excited for this Han Solo mini-series from Marvel Comics?
By Ruari Williamson
*Be sure to subscribe to our website for updates every time a new article is published and check us out on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube*.
Comments.
Currently there are no comments related to this article. You have a special honor to be the first commenter. Thanks!