Why the Millennium Falcon Looks Different in ‘Solo’
I’m guessing you have already watched the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer a time or two (or eight), and if so I’m sure you’ve noticed that the Millennium Falcon, Han Solo’s sturdy ship, looks a bit different in this prequel. Gone are its famous frontal prongs, along with most of the grime that coated its interiors. (I always just assumed the wall panels just came dirt colored. Not so! Han just hates cleaning it apparently.)
There are a lot of questions I suppose Solo will answer (like, for example, “Why does this movie need to exist?”). But one of the central ones will be this: Why does the Millennium Falcon we know look so much different than this one in the past, when Han, played by Alden Ehrenreich, first acquired it.
The full answer won’t be revealed until the movie comes out, but a new article in Entertainment Weekly offers some significant clues. This version of the Falcon is “how the ship existed in the hands of Lando Calrissian before he lost it to Han Solo in a game of sabacc.” And over time, Han adapted the ship to suit his needs. Here’s what Jon Kasdan, co-writer of the film with his dad (and longtime Star Wars scribe) Lawrence Kasdan said:
Where Han gave it a certain shabby coolness and a dinged up quality that reflected where he was at that point in his life, this Falcon reflects its owner very clearly in its shape and aesthetic and his needs, even if those needs be a little more space to entertain.
As for the front the ship, EW speculates that the mandibles on the front were designed to hold something that was later lost, perhaps something like a “detachable storage container.” We’ll find out for sure when Solo opens in theaters on May 25.