Generally speaking, the rules of “Fight Club” apply to anybody who signs up for a “Star Wars” movie, but it seems that Woody Harrelson isn’t afraid of the mighty arm of Lucasfilm‘s legal department. The actor has already tossed around some details about his character in the upcoming Han Solo spinoff movie, but this weekend at the Sundance Film Festival he took it one step further.
Chatting with Variety about his new movie “Wilson” (review here), Harrelson was asked straight up if he was playing Garris Shrike in the “Star Wars” flick, to which he hemmed and hawed and finally answered, “Yeah, I am.”
Now, a couple of things: first, there’s already some debates on the internet about whether or not Woody Harrelson was confirming he’s in the movie or playing Garris Shrike (see the video below and come to your own conclusion). Secondly, the new saga and spinoff films thus far haven’t directly used non-canon, expanded universe fare so it’s probably a safe bet that Phil Lord and Chris Miller will tweak Garris Shrike to suit their needs. But in case you’re wondering who exactly this character is, here’s a quick summary from Wookieepedia:
Garris Shrike was the man who raised Han Solo. As a young man, he was a bounty hunter, but his quick temper kept him from collecting many live bounties. Instead, he turned to crime, collecting a group of orphans whom he used in confidence tricks and thefts, based aboard the decommissioned troopship Trader’s Luck in orbit over Corellia. One of those orphans was Han Solo. Shrike rescued Solo from the streets, raised him, trained him, and beat him profusely when aggravated.
So, is the Han Solo movie becoming a space version of “Oliver Twist“? Guess we’ll see when it lands in 2018.