Less than two months away from the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, even the most optimistic Star Wars fans are likely at least a bit worried about the outcome. The first trailer, released the day after the Super Bowl, showed off the snazzy styles of a young Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and alluring newcomer Qi’Ra (Emilia Clarke), but Alden Ehrenreich’s take on Han Solo was still worrisome, to say the least. The acting-coach fiasco notwithstanding, Ehrenreich wasn’t giving off Han Solo vibes in any way whatsoever: Whomever he was trying to play, it came off about as uncomfortable as the fake bad acting he did in Hail, Caesar!
Thankfully, Lucasfilm is all about course correcting when things go south—just ask the original directors of this movie—and it appears we’re getting a Chewbacca movie. I’m here for it.
Chewie is all over this trailer, and decades after the beloved hairball was first introduced, we’re still learning new things. Like, did you know he might have a Wookie girlfriend?!
Kind of an aggressive head embrace—does this galaxy have a concussion protocol?—but I think it gets the point across: Love comes in many forms. While this detail inadvertently makes the Star Wars Holiday Special (the terrible spinoff in which the original trilogy’s heroes spend the holidays with Chewie’s family on his home planet of Kashyyyk) somewhat canon, I’m relieved that Solo doesn’t look as speciesist as other Star Wars movies, instead treating Chewbacca like a fully formed character and giving him a potential love interest. This is what we call progress.
Also, did you know that Chewbacca is 190 years old when Solo takes place? “You look great!” Han says after this discovery, except the line’s delivered by Alden Ehrenreich so it’s immediately not that cool. But that means Chewie is over 200 years old when A New Hope begins, which is pretty wild, honestly. (According to nerds, Wookies can live up to 500 years.) Imagine doing this to someone while nearing the second century of your life:
I’m in my 20s and already in need of a chiropractor; Chewie is throwing a guy across his body and definitely killing him (human necks don’t do well at those angles). Is it messed up that Chewie is remorselessly murdering someone? Maybe in a vacuum, but remember: This guy went through Wookie genocide in Revenge of the Sith. Chewie has seen some shit.
Or maybe he hasn’t seen much? I was not aware that Bespectacled Chewbacca was a thing, either!
Though he’s shaping up to be the Michael Jordan of Solo, Chewie looks like early ’90s Horace Grant.
This is part of an intense climactic sequence in the trailer in which Chewie’s on a moving train-like thing, about to get sideswiped by a boulder and possibly killed. (Good move by screenwriters, putting in the train action scene from Fast Five as a crutch.) Unless you’ve never seen another Star Wars movie, you know he’s going to be alright, but after Chewie stole the show throughout this trailer, I still let out an impassioned “CHEWIE!!!!!” in fear of his safety.
That is the mark of a great character. Even if Solo himself doesn’t live up to the billing, the smuggler’s best friend will be there to pick up the slack. Just like old times.
Chewbacc—I mean, Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters May 25.
