Earlier this week, an article dropped on the AMC theater chain’s blog titled, “Exploring the Planets of ‘Solo.'” The article revealed three planets that will reportedly feature into the upcoming film.
While this isn’t an official piece of StarWars.com editorial, it’s been published through one of the most prominent theater chains, something that likely wouldn’t have happened without some kind of PR oversight. Regardless, we should remember that nothing in here is truly confirmed until we see it via an official Sta Wars source.
Possible spoilers follow.
According to AMC, three planets that will be making an appearance in the film are:
- Corellia
- Mimban
- and Kessel
Corellia is not a surprising choice, given that Han Solo was born on this planet in both the old EU, and in the current canon (according to the Ultimate Star Wars sourcebook). Corellia is located in a region known as the “Core” (alongside other prominent planets such as Coruscant and Hosnian Prime). It’s known primarily for its shipyards, and as a result, many of the galaxy’s best pilots hail from Corellia (Wedge Antilles for example).
The second planet, Mimban, is a little more unexpected. The planet has not featured prominently into the canon so far, with only a small reference given to it in a single episode of The Clone Wars. In the EU’s “Legends” continuity though, Mimban was a jungle planet that was the site of Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader’s first lightsaber duel. The two battled over a Force relic called the Kaiburr crystal; and while that particular item hasn’t made its way into the new canon yet, ancient Jedi lore in general has featured prominently throughout the recent films, comics, and TV series.
Finally, Kessel is the planet from which Han’s iconic “Kessel Run” takes its name. It’s home to mines in which a substance called “spice” is harvested, and later refined into a potent drug. In the current canon, these mines are controlled by an organization called the Pyke Syndicate who utilize slave labor including many Wookiee slaves.
The Kessel Run itself is an exceptionally dangerous smuggling route through which the Pyke Syndicate transports its spice off-world. Han Solo was able to shave a significant amount of distance off of the typical course by piloting a much more dangerous route. In the EU, he did so flying close to black holes in a region of space known as the Maw.
Director Ron Howard has already hinted at the Kessel mines before, so it shouldn’t be a big surprise that the Kessel Run will play a big role in the movie. Considering the mines also employ Wookiee slave labor, it’s not a big leap either to guess that the planet could be where Han and Chewbacca first meet.
Spicey? pic.twitter.com/dLhop8S60T
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) September 20, 2017
As before though, this is all just one step above speculation. We can be pretty confident that we’ll get a chance to explore these planets in Solo, but the how and why of it all is still a mystery. Solo: A Star Wars Story is currently scheduled for a May 25, 2018 release date.
