Solo: See all of director Ron Howard's Star Wars set photos

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Solo: A Star Wars Story

We’re only a few months out from the premiere of the next solo Star Wars movie… which happens to be called Solo: A Star Wars Story. We still know very little about the actual plot, perhaps because director Ron Howard came in to replace original helmers Phil Lord and Chris Miller just weeks before production was initially planned to wrap. Since then, the filmmaker embarked on a series of reshoots and gave fans some teases of what to expect in the form of set photos shared on social media. While we’re still missing that elusive first look reveal of star Alden Ehrenreich in character as a young Han Solo, let’s pour back over all of Howard’s Solo photos and analyze, analyze, analyze. (Solo: A Star Wars Story is scheduled for theaters on May 25, 2018.)

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“Care to guess whose closet this is?” Howard teased on Twitter back in July. Scrolling through the comments section, fans collectively had one guess: Lando Calrissian. Emmy winner Donald Glover (FX’s Atlanta) succeeds Billy Dee Williams, who played the smuggled-turned-leader in the original Star Wars trilogy. With Glover as a younger version of the character, the jury’s still out on whether we’ll get to see exactly how Han came to steal the Millennium Falcon out from under his nose.

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It’s less clear who owns this retro wardrobe, but, again, Howard invited fan theories.

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Ron Howard on set — RealRonHoward/Twitter

Joonas Suotamo is now the man underneath the Chewbacca suit after Peter Mayhew’s long history playing the character. It looks like we’ll be seeing more of this Wookiee warrior, as the scene glimpsed on the camera screen shows what appears to be a Wookiee couple.

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Here’s the money shot of Glover’s Lando, standing in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon.

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Howard is no longer a hyperspace padawan. A projection shows the special effects used to visualize the movement of lightspeed travel, while the smaller cameras show more sneak peeks at Lando piloting the Falcon.

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Bradford Young is a cinematographer on the rise. If you didn’t catch his stunning work in Denis Villeneuve’s Arrival, Ava DuVernay’s Selma, or David Lowery’s Ain’t Them Bodies Saints, you’ll see how he handles the camera in Solo. Here, Howard works out a scene with Young, while an alien creature hunches over a table in the background.

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While this is one of his less striking images, Howard teased some of the droids joining this prequel story of how Han became one of the most infamous galactic smugglers.

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For those not fluent in Star Wars lingo, this lil’s tyke is what we call an astromech droid, a utility robot often used for starship upkeep. R2-D2 is of the same variety, except this one sports an orange-and-white design.

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“Safety meeting prior to our shooting day,” Howard wrote in a post to Instagram. The workers gather as a mountainous scene is projected on the wall behind them.

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A day after the staff meeting, Howard posted a snap of himself at work on the set. It’s difficult to make out what’s going on among the actors gathered in costume, though perhaps it’s some sort of party scene, given the alien food buffet on display.

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A close up of the prop food for the same scene.

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In August, Howard shared a video depicting a crane shot as the sun sets on Pinewood Studios. Spare speeder parts litter this junkyard against a green screen. But, hey, one man’s hunk of junk could end up being the fastest spaceship in the galaxy.

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In another video, the director got up close with “where old speeders go to die,” seemingly from the same location.

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It’s unclear how much the Empire will be involved in Solo, but it seems they will be involved somehow. One brow-raising set pic released in mid-August revealed a familiar helmet placed on a familiar control board. “The Empire Looms Large,” Howard teased.

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“Looks like I was clearly enjoying this close up performance today on the set,” Howard tweeted.

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More junk and more smoking parts from “a rough corner of the galaxy.”

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Ron-Howard-Donald-Glover — Ron Howard/Twitter

As Glover wrapped his scenes for Solo, Howard shared a selfie – complete with Lando’s signature 'stache.

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Lucasfilm tweaked the Solo casting as Howard replaced Lord and Miller on the film. Michael K. Williams once had a part he says got cut, while Warwick Davis and Howard’s brother Clint were announced for roles. Also revealed during filming on the reshoots was Avengers: Infinity War star Paul Bettany in an undisclosed role.

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“Behind the scenes in a dark and strange new corner of the Galaxy,” Howard tweeted of this muted image.

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Howard teased an “intense and cool” scene, but because it was so “intense and cool,” the action blurred for the snapshot. Still, the oval windows in the background look similar (if not the same) to the ones in the background of Bettany’s set photo, as well as the one with all the prop food.

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Someone sits in the driver’s seat of a landspeeder in this black-and-white image.

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The second set photo of Bettany reveals more of the scene – which includes a creature on display in a glass dome – and the actor sporting a very Han Solo-friendly ensemble.

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All Howard gave his followers to accompany this image was the question, “Spicey?” But that speaks volumes to sharp Star Wars fans. It goes back to something Harrison Ford’s Han mentions to Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi in Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope. “You’ve never heard of the Millennium Falcon? … It’s the ship that made the Kessel Run in less than 12 parsecs?” Kessel is a dangerous planet of the Star Wars universe, one that is known for its spice mines. The Empire used slaves to harvest the spices, but smugglers would transport these illegal substances through the Kessel Run, a space route that circumvents Imperial forces around Kessel. It seems like a fair wager to say this part of Han’s history will be incorporated into Solo.

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“Shooting a scene about desperate and dangerous times in the Galaxy,” Howard wrote.

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21827902_280885359080699_6262191102162370560_n — Ron Howard/Instagram

A second look arrived of the same “desperate and dangerous times in the Galaxy,” but this one also includes wheelbarrows and overturned mine carts – further stoking suspicion about the spice mines of Kessel.

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The Mother of Dragons herself, Game of Thrones star Emilia Clarke, plays an undisclosed character in Solo.

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A lot of things come to mind when one looks at this extremely cryptic image of a stone tablet, but nothing definitive. It maintains a similar ashy hue to previous images that teased Kessel. But Howard also included the hashtag #McQuarrie in his tweet, presumably as a reference to Ralph McQuarrie, the concept artist who famously designed initial characters for the original Star Wars films. Many of his unused designs would be used as inspiration for future films.

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Westworld’s Thandie Newton is another actor with a mysterious character in Solo, but we know the majority of her scenes were shot with the two original directors. “I love Phil and Chris — everybody loves Phil and Chris — they’re so brilliant,” Newton told EW. “Ron and the guys were talking to each other. As far as I’m concerned what’s on screen, in the end, is going to be an amazing collaboration. It’s a massive piece.” In the image of her posted by Howard, the actor returned to set for reshoots with the director.

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“Turns out Smuggling has its stressful moments in the #Galaxy,” Howard tweeted of an image that appears to be taken from inside the Falcon.

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An astromech droid serves as a dumpster fire on the planet Corellia, where both Han and the Falcon are from. “Those #Corellian nights get a little chilly,” Howard tweeted. “Screenwriter [Jon Kasdan] and I try to keep warm.”

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22352469_1875127429466987_5746373771955011584_n — Ron Howard/Instagram

“Tough neighborhoods contain Doorways to adventure, mystery & excitement,” Howard wrote. Might these doorways be on Corellia, since Howard posted a scene from the planet’s set two days earlier?

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22344889_129593614365521_3735563675600158720_n — Ron Howard/Instagram

There are more “secrets to uncover & challenges to face for a young #HanSolo” in this trippy lava lamp set piece.

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Howard and Kasdan made one comic book creator’s dream come true: Tag Greenley and Bink Otauna are part of the official Star Wars canon now. These folks were characters on the side of the Rebel Alliance in the Kevin Rubio comics. The Empire captured them for a beat, but Tag and Bink escaped wearing their uniforms. In Solo, Kasdan not only confirmed their involvement, but revealed he and actor Toby Hefferman are playing them.

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Screen Shot 2017-10-17 at 9.10.14 AM — Ron Howard/ Twitter

After months of speculation, Howard unveiled the official title of the movie, Solo: A Star Wars Story. The working title for the film was Red Cup, as a playful nod to the red products of the Solo Cup Company.

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“Deep into post production on #Solo,” Howard tweeted of this cryptic pic. “The journey continues! Fun.”

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Howard rang in 2018 with a photo of that same landspeeder from before – only this time it’s in color.

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Warwick Davis, a Star Wars veteran, has a role in Solo and joined Howard for some "post-production work."

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Abbey Road Studios in London served as the recording space for the film's official soundtrack. John Powell composed the full orchestral score, while John Williams created a new theme.

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