A writer for Solo: A Star Wars Story has revealed a big plot hole that he's haunted by even to this day.
Solo was released back in 2018, and to say it landed with mixed results is an understatement. Many felt it was mediocre and unnecessary—thoughts that already started to take hold of fans back when the original directors, Chris Miller and Phil Lord, were kicked off the project and replaced by Ron Howard.
Both Miller and Lord still have "a lot of negative emotions" regarding their sudden exit with Lucasfilm. Thankfully, they also see the experience as a big learning experience, where they also "worked with the greatest people."
Much like how the directors of Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse are still haunted by their time on Solo, it seems that one of the film's writers is as well.
The Haunting Solo Plot Hole
In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan revealed the big plot hole that bothers him to this day.
Kasdan pointed out how Dryden Vos (played by Paul Bettany) sending Qi'ra, his inside mole, to steal the coaxium during the [Kessel] heist doesn't make much sense. She was one of the most visible members of the team pulling off the robbery, so, in theory, Vos wouldn't want her in such a revealing spotlight.
Kasdan admitted that is "the biggest problem that has always haunted me about Solo:"
"... but I’ll tell you the biggest problem that has always haunted me about Solo. I’m going to reveal the writer’s nightmare right now. If Dryden Vos [Paul Bettany] is so concerned about exposing his gang in the [Kessel] heist, why does he send his most trusted aid [Qi’ra] to be the most visible member of the team that steals the coaxium? It seems to me that he’s going to have to kill her almost immediately just to separate himself from that job. So it always drove me crazy, and it was a problem that I was eager to retcon in a sequel."
He continued on to express how his father (Lawrence Kasdan), who also wrote the film with him, "was really passionate about creating a different kind of femme fatale in the Star Wars universe" in the form of Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra:
"Before I got involved and before anyone was involved, my dad was really passionate about creating a different kind of femme fatale in the Star Wars universe, someone who was sincerely morally ambiguous. Qi’ra had grown up very hard, she’d had a life that forced her to become a survivor, and she was going to have to make tough choices that Han [Alden Ehrenreich] couldn’t quite make. Even in the final moments of his life, Han was always going to be undone by his humanism and his heart, but Qi’ra was on the other side of the line."
The writer went on to candidly note how his "enthusiasm for doing more Solo has waned" over the years because "there's [already] so much great Star Wars out there:"
"So what I thought Emilia [Clarke] brought to it wonderfully is that she’s not evil or duplicitous. She’s a survivor and she’s maneuvering through all these different powerful entities to get to the end of the game. As the years have gone by and there has been more Star Wars, my enthusiasm for doing more Solo has waned only because there’s so much great Star Wars out there right now. But the thing that I would love to revisit is the relationship between the two of them, because there’s so much fun and complexity to be found in the relationship between Han and Qi’ra."
Will Star Wars Make a SOLO Sequel?
One of the biggest missed opportunities for Lucasfilm was the continuation of Darth Maul on the big screen. Sure, there might be some limitations based on his appearances in Clone Wars and Rebels, but there was still so much potential.
Maul is far from the only element from Solo who could have a future in Lucasfilms' story down the road.
Many thought the Crimson Dawn would be behind everything going down in The Book of Boba Fett, though, clearly, that never happened. But the Disney+ series story did include the Pyke Syndicate, who first appeared in live-action in Solo; so there's at least one significant recent connection.
Maybe if the show gets a second season, the story could connect itself to some of the plot threads left hanging at the end of Solo.
Another big loose thread was Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra, who got away at the end of the movie and is currently making waves in the Star Wars comics. She could be the perfect character to bring back in The Mandalorian's timeline after Return of the Jedi and before The Force Awakens.
Maybe Lucasfilm can convince Clarke to return after her stint in Secret Invasion for Marvel Studios.
Solo: A Star Wars Story is now streaming on Disney+.
