Last weekend brought Disney's answer to Comic Con, in the form of the biannual D23 Expo in Anaheim, California. Among the convention's biggest moments was the live-action movie panel, where the audience was treated to an extended presentation on the studio's Star Wars plans. Part of that planning is spinoff films set within the Star Wars universe, which we've known for a while. But Bob Iger took the stage at D23 to confirm one of those spinoff projects is indeed a Han Solo movie, as has long been rumored.
What wasn't known before, however, is that when Han goes solo, it will be in an origin story. Presumably this doesn't mean we're going to get a film about his parents' meeting up, ending with Han's birth as the title card "Han Sol Begins" flashes on screen before the end credits. No, what it actually means is a story featuring a teenage Han Solo in an adventure that molds him into the smirking, smuggling, scruffy-lookin' scoundrel we all know and love later in his life.
So, with the studio planning a youthful Han for the picture, that raises the obvious question: Who is cut out to play the Young Adult version of such an iconic character? Because make no mistake, the point of an origin tale involving a teen Solo is to offer a YA fiction approach as an entry point for new young fans to the franchise.
Young Adult Fiction is big business these days, after all, with popular brands making hundreds of millions at the box office every year. Star Wars is already a global blockbuster brand, and creating crossover appeal into the YA audience will provide a major boost -- might we see YA novels based around the early adventures of young Han, for example? Disney are masters at merchandising and crossover appeal, so you can bet they'll maximize the potential of the brand.
Whomever is cast will have big shoes to fill, and must bring the right combination of strong acting talent and on-screen charm -- mixing likability with roguishness, where the cynical side is more pronounced since these are the early years before he turned into the loyal, reliable heroic character who helped defeat the Empire. It'll be a story that shows us how he became the best pilot and smuggler, how he got immersed in the criminal underworld, and why his cynicism and selfishness came to overshadow the better angels of his nature in adulthood. But it will also have to capture the fact he is at heart still a good person and inclined to want to do the right thing so long as it doesn't get too much in the way of his own interests.
With that in mind, then, here in no particular order are the top ten best choices to play our new Han Solo!
Chandler Riggs -- With intensity, a fanbase of his own, and lots of geek-genre cred already under his belt, Riggs would be a terrific choice for our rebellious youth who becomes a more literally rebellious adult some day. Nobody can question his acting chops, nor can they deny he has teen idol good looks mixed with the right dose of edge for this role.
Turn the page to keep reading my list of the top 10 actors to play young Han Solo in the new Star Wars spinoff movie!
Dylan O'Brien -- Already a star on TV and now with his own Young Adult sci-fi franchise (The Maze Runner), O'Brien is one of the bigger young stars and was among the names floated as in contention for Spider-Man and had a lot of fan support. So expect him to get a close look for the Han Solo role, and perhaps be another likely name on the final studio list of contenders.
And there you have it, dear readers, the list of the top ten actors to play Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff featuring a teenage Han in a sort of origin tale. What do you think of the list, and which of these actors would be your favorite pick? Who do you think deserves a spot on the list but wasn't mentioned? Sound off in the comments below!
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