When Han Solo's love interest, Qi'ra, reappeared two months ago in the War of the Bounty Hunters premiere comic book issue, fans were overjoyed to see her return. The character, played by Game of Thrones superstar Emelia Clarke, hadn't been heard from since the end of Solo: A Star Wars Story. As you may recall, the movie closed with her making contact with Sith-turned-Crime-Boss Maul and her future was the subject of speculation. The perfectly played hint at future stories is one of the things that kept Star Wars fans hopeful that Alden Ehrenreich, Joonas Suotamo and Donald Glover would return with more stories. In fact, a hashtag crusade started by The Resistance Broadcast showing support for #MakeSolo2Happen has become one of the most well-known Twitter Star Wars campaigns.
On August 18, news broke that a new 5-issue comic book series called Crimson Reign will be coming in November, 2021 and it featured Qi'ra front and center. Those following recent comic book lines know that she has ascended to the top of the ranks of the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate and is now in power during the time between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. While many fans took this as a promising sign that there will be Solo back story on the horizon in the form of a Disney+ show or feature film, an Around the Galaxy contact and former Star Wars content creator shared their perspective with us on the news:
"This is the most sure I've ever been that Solo 2 will not happen. Lucasfilm protects characters they're using for film very carefully. They are basically off limits if EU stories can remotely impact their film narrative. This is a reliable metric: if it's in the comics, it probably won't be in the film."
This is by no means a confirmation that a sequel to Solo is out of the question but, based on insight from people who know, a lack of announcement three years after the initial release of the film and the increasing age of the actor who gave us "young Han Solo," the chances are getting slimmer by the day. But, as that famous smuggler once said, "never tell me the odds."
What do you think? Are you looking forward to Crimson Reign? What do you think this means for Solo 2?