Beyond the core duo of Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover – Han and the ice-cool Lando Calrissian, respectively – Lucasfilm has been keeping a tight lid on its ensemble cast for Solo: A Star Wars Story and, more specifically, who they’re playing.
As the second Star Wars Anthology flick after Rogue One, the Ron Howard-directed spinoff is shaping up to be a suitably starry affair, with a lineup that includes the likes of Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones), Woody Harrelson, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Paul Bettany, star of Infinity War and the yet-to-be-titled Avengers 4.
The latter only joined Solo after Ron Howard climbed on board, and subsequent reports all but confirmed that Bettany filled the role once occupied by Michael K. Williams – rumor has it that Williams initially signed on to play a motion-capture alien, though the part has since been rewritten to a human character. A “very cool” intergalactic gangster, it seems.
While appearing at the Rhode Island Comic Con (via CBM), Paul Bettany himself was quizzed about the identity of his Solo character, to which he replied:
I’m not sure. I might get sued is that answer to that one. I can’t answer that. But obviously I am a very cool intergalactic gangster.
And that’s it, really – no name, no context…nada. Granted, with The Last Jedi just around the corner, it’s all but certain that Disney and Lucasfilm will have a first-look trailer prepped and ready to go in time for December 15th, when Star Wars fans the world over will be flocking to their nearest theater in order to be whisked off to a galaxy far, far away.
Five months after that, the franchise’s impassioned fanbase will be getting ready to do it all over again, as Solo: A Star Wars Story has been penciled in for May 25th, 2018.