Just over four years ago, “Solo: A Story Wars Story” hit theaters to muted praise and middling box-office numbers. In fact, “Solo” is the lowest-grossing “Star Wars” film to date, so by all accounts, if Kathleen Kennedy and the rest of Lucasfilm don’t consider the movie failure, fans, pundits, and nearly everyone else, definitely do. While the financial collapse of the movie precipitated Lucasfilm to pivot to TV (the impending timing of Disney+’s fall 2019 launch working out perfectly), the movie has slowly gained status with diehard “Star Wars” fans since 2018, so perhaps Lucasfilm may reassess its judgment of the film soon enough.
And soon may be closer than fans imagine. In a talk with Screen Rant, “Solo” scribe Jonathan Kasdan, who co-wrote the film’s script with his father Lawrence Kasdan, shared a juicy bit of info about certain characters from the movie showing up in future “Star Wars” projects. In fact, Kasdan named two characters, Emilia Clarke’s Qi’ra and Erin Kellyman’s Enfys Nest, that could show up as soon as “Andor” this August. And “The Mandalorian” guru Jon Favreau may be the one to utilize the two characters.
“I think someday we’re gonna see what happened and how Qi’ra advanced through the world and through the crime syndicates,” said Kasdan. “I’ve talked to Jon Favreau about it; he’s a big fan of that movie and some of the stuff we built out. I always say, ‘Well, you’re the guy to figure it out.’ I always look to him to keep the story alive and keep it going.” For those who forget, in “Solo,” Clarke’s Qi’ra is the love interest of Alden Ehrenreich’s young Han Solo, who eventually kills Paul Bettany’s Vos to take over the Crimson Dawn crime syndicate. While Qi’ra hasn’t popped up in any new “Star Wars” shows yet, she has been seen in a few comics and books, and factions affiliated with the Crimson Dawn popped up in this year’s “The Book Of Boba Fett.”
Kasdan continued, “‘Star Wars’ is going in so many fun directions. Specifically, I saw that trailer for ‘Andor’ today, and I thought, [the character] Enfys Nest is gonna show up somewhere in that show.’ I’m hopeful that a lot of those people continue on the journeys they were on.” Kellyman’s Enfys Nest is a pirate and resistance fighter who leads the Cloud-Riders against the Crimson Dawn in “Solo.” With roles in other Disney+ shows, “The Falcon And The Winter Soldier” and the upcoming “Willow” revival series, Kellyman’s return as Nest could be highly likely.
Of course, this is all speculation at this point. However, Kathleen Kennedy recently confirmed that Lucasfilm and Donald Glover are talking about the much-ballyhooed Lando Calrissian series, a natural place for both Qi’ra and Nest to show up. “Andor” also takes place five years before the events of “A New Hope,” which fits well with a post- “Solo” storyline for both characters.
So, there are a couple of ways for Clarke and Kellyman to return to their “Star Wars” roles. Whether they, in fact, do return remains to be seen, though.