A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Han Solo went through an adventure that helped shape him into the scruffy looking nerf herder that we all know and love. That caper is the center of the latest _Star Wars _standalone film, which is currently being completed under the watchful eye of legendary director Ron Howard. And that eye of his has been drip feeding us all cryptic, yet playful, looks at what this film has in store for us all, with the latest image promising "dangerous and desperate times". Take a look at the danger and desperation for yourself, in that photo, below:
Well... Howard certainly wasn't kidding when he labeled this set photo. In fact, that might be one of the biggest pre-Death Star development explosions that we've seen in the Star Wars universe. At the very least, it's an impressive boom that seems to be concealing further details in this photo. Details like, say, what looks like an Imperial Stormtrooper in the middle-left portion of the photo. Though, less obscured is what looks like the debris of some Imperial machinery and/or vehicles, scattered towards the bottom of the frame, which has us thinking of a possible scenario for this scene.
There's a possibility that the trooper we see in this photo is Han Solo, and he might be trying to make a covert escape from a scenario that has him sneaking around in Imperial armor. Or, Solo could still be escaping, and this trooper is a random person that will probably be bested by the young smuggler's wits. One last scenario that pops up is the fact that this might not even be an important, story-based scene; but instead, a random sequence of explosion and action that really sets the tone for the latest Star Wars standalone story to be told.
A final detail that should be noted is the fact that this picture lines up with one Ron Howard tweeted earlier, which showed what could be the spice mines of Kessel. Should that be true, there's a chance that this could be one of the most important scenes in the Han Solo Star Wars story, leading to the infamous Kessel Run. No matter what this scene may entail, the chaos and panic of the galaxy torn apart by civil war is prevalent. Ron Howard's Instagram shows the Star Wars universe at a point where it's torn apart by conflict, just waiting for a glimmer of hope. Even more of that desperation can be seen in another photo, shared by Howard, below.
While that hope wouldn't rear its head until Rogue One: A Star Wars Story's events, seeing the development of Alden Ehrenreich's younger incarnation of Han Solo will be hope enough for this point in the legendary franchise. Other than that, the tone and execution of this film are still a bit of a mystery, with Phil Lord and Chris Miller's work undoubtedly set to differ from the film that Ron Howard was brought in to correct/deliver to Kathleen Kennedy and the Lucasfilm brass.
With the explosion pictured in the film, it looks like this film will definitely belong in the Star Wars universe after all. Han Solo's untitled Star Wars stand-alone even has a release date that put it among the classic canon, as it will be in theaters on May 25th, 2018. That's not all of the action next year has to offer though, as you'll see in the full schedule for 2018.
