‘Han Solo’s’ Directors Are Out–And I Don’t Know Who To Trust

I love Han Solo.

That’s actually an understatement. Han Solo is my favorite character of all time. In any genre. In any medium. Ever. Even that doesn’t feel accurate. I’ve been Han Solo for Halloween twice, as a child and an adult. In high school, I eagerly told people that my personality was equal parts Han Solo, Gonzo, and Chandler Bing; I had a lot of friends. More recently, watching Han Solo meet his end in Star Wars: The Force Awakens gave me what my husband identified as a “panic attack” (everything below my neck went completely numb and I couldn’t breathe, a totally normal reaction to a movie). I have two different Han Solos watching me type this, right now.

What I’m getting at is words like “love” and “favorite” don’t accurately convey just how much this cocky, resourceful, and deeply insecure space scoundrel means to me. Han Solo and, by extension, Harrison Ford are a part of my DNA at this point. So you get why the upcoming, still untitled, Han Solo-centric Star Wars anthology film is very, very important to me. If you get that, then you also get why the news that the film recently ditched its directors–after being in production for almost four months to the day!–has me stuck in an emotional asteroid field.

Everything in the world feel like it’s falling apart. I need my beloved outer space opera to be my constant. Now I’ve got a bad feeling about this.

To be honest, I have always had deep reservations about seeing anyone other than Harrison Ford play Han. Ford’s walked away from about as many IRL crashes as Han Solo, which makes me think Ford may actually be a Corellian smuggler on the DL. No one else can play Han Solo the way Ford did, because Ford–just like Han Solo–did not want to get involved in the war between the Empire and the Rebellion. Ford never auditioned to play Solo; he helped George Lucas audition actors for Luke and Leia, and Lucas realized he couldn’t do any better than Ford. A good chunk of Han Solo’s charm in the original 1977 film comes from the fact that he’s an outsider that doesn’t want to get involved; that’s not Ford acting. That’s Ford. That’s why it’s so genuine, so real. No other actor can do that, although Alden Ehrenreich’s giving it a go.

Despite my reservations, Untitled Han Solo Anthology Film won me over, bit by bit, as new names were announced. A screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and his son, Jon? Yup! Co-starring Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian? Yes please! Directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller, the mad brains behind the subversively genius LEGO Movie? I believe in this! Well, Untitled Han Solo Anthology Film sure sounds like a totally bonkers production–in the best way possible. While I didn’t want Han Solo to become a Batman or James Bond style title, passed on from actor to actor, I realized that this was definitely a creative team to get excited about. I was cautiously optimistic about seeing my favorite character of all time played by someone who has never survived multiple plane crashes or posed with a 2×4 while wearing a speedo (Google it).

And then yesterday happened.

I now don’t know what to believe or who to trust.

Usually when directors are fired, you can take a side. Maybe you didn’t like the director to begin with, or maybe you don’t have faith in the studio, or maybe you kinda always had a deep down hunch that the screenplay or property was garbage. That’s not the case here! I was fully behind Lord and Miller doing this movie, I really trust Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy, and no one knows Han Solo better than Lawrence Kasdan. I’m ready to believe the film will be a dud without Lord and Miller, but I’m just as ready to believe that Kennedy–the woman who helped bring a dormant franchise back to the big screen with the one-two punch of Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story–has the right instincts. And I really don’t think there’s a problem with the material; this is my favorite character ever, for one thing, and no one–not even George Lucas–gets him the way Lawrence Kasdan does. With The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens, Kasdan helped craft the definitive Han Solo moments: the Echo Base argument, the banter with Lando, “My hands are dirty too, what’re you afraid of?,” the botched rathtar job, the confrontation with Ben Solo. Kasdan knows Han better than I do, and that’s high praise.

Variety reports, citing an unnamed source, that Lord and Miller’s irreverent filmmaking style clashed with Kennedy and Kasdan from day one; why those clashes were allowed to happen for 120 more days, who knows? That report says that Kennedy likes films run a certain way, and that Lord and Miller assumed they’d have a lot more leeway considering their success with 21 Jump Street and The LEGO Movie. They were, apparently, mistaken. Now it looks like Ron Howard’s the frontrunner to swoop in and carry the film through the final weeks of filming and the reshoots scheduled for later this summer. I guess I have to side with Kennedy and Kasdan, two of the people behind some of the best Star Wars films, even though I’m deeply curious about Lord and Miller’s apparently controversial take.

I’m also telling myself that this has happened before, with both The Force Awakens and Rogue One, although those shake-ups weren’t as severe. Rogue One underwent extensive reshoots (as were planned from the get go) last summer, with director Gareth Edwards replaced by Tony Gilroy at the tail end of production. Gareth was still Rogue One’s director, though, and there was no public strain between him and Kennedy. But the Rogue One we saw in theaters was apparently changed from the film Edwards made, and a number of shots–most of the best shots–from the trailers weren’t included in the film. The Force Awakens underwent a similar shake-up, although way, way earlier in the process; Oscar nominated Toy Story 3 screenwriter Michael Arndt left the project early on, and Lucasfilm called in director J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan to finish the script. The Force Awakens turned out fine, way more than fine.

So while this is upsetting news, and it’s definitely the most extreme behind-the-scenes shakeup in the Star Wars franchise, there’s still a chance that things are gonna be okay. And, unless they bump Untitled Han Solo Anthology Movie back from its May 25, 2018 release date in order to reshoot everything they’ve done over the last four months (four months!), it’s likely that a lot of Lord and Miller’s work is going to be seen in the final cut. The previous two Star Wars movies weathered their storms and emerged as successes, so maybe the same will happen for Han. Or on the other hand, maybe this movie will be the first crash Alden Ehrenreich walks away from.

Really, the only thing I can count on right now is my undying love for Han Solo.

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