Solo: A Star Wars Story Teaser Trailer Arrives in Style

Whether you’ve been patient as a Jedi or screaming into that secret red phone in your home with a direct line to Kathleen Kennedy, the wait for a Solo: A Star Wars Story footage is over! Good Morning America debuted the teaser trailer, after a 45 second teaser the night before, which shows off the movie’s style, both through its visuals and wardrobe. Check below for the Super Bowl ad, character posters, stills, and some assorted musings on the teaser trailer.

Something about this teaser just oozes a very distinct style, from the flashy, cape-filled attire, the seedy, varied locales, and gorgeous cinematography. It does look a little grittier, à la Rogue One, than expected, especially when contrasted with the vibrant character posters (see below), but there’s so much more of this movie we aren’t seeing yet so it’s hard to be certain, but we won’t have long to see the full thing anyways.

Speaking of that, this is the first time we really get to see Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, and I’ll admit, my first thoughts, while not negative, weren’t sold on the performance. But after both watching the teaser a few more times and ignoring my preconceived notions of Harrison Ford in the role, I’ve warmed up to it quite a bit. While it might be hard for most audiences to make peace with the dissonance of Alden’s performance vs the expectations of “Ford, but younger,” I love the idea he’ll be make it his own while honoring what came before. Chewbacca looks glorious as always, as he’s rocking two bandoliers, and I can’t wait to see their friendship begin in the film. Chewie is played full-time by Joonas Suotamo now, who posted a reaction video to the teaser on his Twitter account.

There won’t be any problems with people accepting Donald Glover as a younger Lando Calrissian however, because damn he brings all the suave Billy Dee Williams did and then some. Seriously, this casting was already perfect but now that we’re seeing him in the role, it’s somehow become more perfect than perfect. Curiously, Lando and Han have something in common: They always have a pal for their adventures. For Lando, it’s been Lobot, whose friendship got a touching, amazing expansion in the Lando comic miniseries, but in Solo he’ll be with L3-37, a droid played via performance capture by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, and they’ve got quite the chemistry already with their little salute before jumping into hyperspace.

Qi’ra, played by Emilia Clarke, seems to have a connection to Han from his younger days, as she’s seen in the early parts of the teaser sitting shotgun as Han races through the streets of Corellia (I’m assuming it’s Corellia, fyi) in his dragster/podracer. And the next time we see her she is waltzing out of the Falcon looking boss as hell, decked out, with sick cape game that gives Lando a run for his money. Is she a previous girlfriend? Family member? Old friend? Can’t wait to find out! Han’s mentor, Beckett, played by Woody Harrelson, seems to be getting the crew together for a heist of some sort, and as one user pointed out, might be where Han gets a gesture of his we know so well. In the Super Bowl ad below, it looks like he’s on top of the speeding train, duel-wielding pistols, against the new masked villain of the film. We get a decent look at the primitive-inspired baddie in the full teaser, and they look cool as hell, and I’m excited to learn more about them and their group of outlaws (which reminded me of Mad Max: Fury Road, so I dubbed the group photo Mad Solo: Fury Beach).

As for Thandie Newton, she seems to playing Val, as revealed by the file names of the official stills from Lucasfilm (via Jedi News). As much as myself and many other fans wanted Newton to be playing prominent new canon POC characters like Sana Starros, Han’s ‘wife’ and Doctor Aphra’s actual ex, or Rae Sloane, an Imperial introduced in the first new canon novel (A New Dawn) and has gone on quite the journey since, it’s great she’s playing Val instead because more POC characters is actually preferable.

Here are a few other things:

The dice Han hangs in the Millennium Falcon‘s cockpit? On Twitter, eagle-eyed user Noorhal noticed them hanging in Han’s speeder! These are the same dice given the close-up treatment in The Last Jedi. Synergy!
If you want GIFs of Chewie putting his paw on Han’s back or of Lando’s smile, the official site has you covered!
This fan-art of Lando by Stephen Byrne is amazing! And here’s one, of the same outfit, by Chris Schweizer.
As Xena pointed out, we’ve already seen a pilot pull the trick of destroying a TIE by flipping their ship…by Hera Syndulla in Star Wars Rebels of course!
I’m interested to learn when this movie takes place in the timeline, though not to help me understand how the Falcon is so clean for once.
EW will have more coverage of Solo later this week!

After several views of the teaser, I’m getting more excited for Solo: A Star Wars Story by the minute. And look, I was already going to be lining up for a 7pm Thursday showing whether we got this teaser or not, but it’s nice to finally have some footage now that we are less than 4 months until its release, May 25! Check out more stills, the character posters, and Super Bowl ad below.

Here are a few more stills: