Lips are sealed tighter than a drum about the upcoming Han Solo spinoff. Even Emilia Clarke, who’s no stranger to having to keep plot details secret thanks to her work on Game of Thrones, has recently said she’s scared of accidentally spoiling the film and refuses to speak about it. With not even the official title known, any leaked morsels are gold dust for Star Wars fans, and now – courtesy of a report from Making Star Wars – we might know the names of two supporting characters.
The first is Mother Proxima, a puppet due to be operated by Dave Chapman (one of the hands behind BB-8) and voiced by an already announced cast member. The second is Val, who rumors say is one of the characters with “top-billing.” Smart money says that it’s Emilia Clarke’s character (or maybe Thandie Newton, or even Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s). Whoever’s playing the part, she’s currently performing stunts around Pinewood.
Let’s face it, this isn’t much to go on and of course, there’s always the possibility that these are simply a smokescreen for whatever their real names are. After all, the Star Wars films have a long and storied history with fake production names designed to throw fans off the scent (Blue Harvest, The Beginning, Foodies, Space Bear, etc.), so this could be the logical extension of this.
Set for release in about a year from now (on May 25th, 2018, to be exact), we should have a steady trickle of Han Solo news coming in as the shoot continues. They can seal that set up as tight as they want, but that won’t stop us from keeping our ears to the ground for even the slightest leak.