For whatever you might say about his directing career, and I could say plenty,Ron Howardis an absolute delight on social media. In between sharing political stories and random thoughts, Howard has used Twitter and Instagram to pump up his forthcomingHan Solo movie, using unexpected and seemingly innocuous images to tease well-known locales, characters, and other tidbits from the previousStar Warsfilms. This is also how he announcedthe arrival ofPaul Bettanyon the set a few weeks ago
This weekend, he stuck to some nerdier material in a series of posts on both IG and Twitter. The director’s captions highlight the “desperate and dangerous” times in which the movie will take place, suggesting that the film will now be going into darker terrain. This is not surprising, considering thatChris MillerandPhil Lordwere abruptly fired from directing the origins tale for what was widely reported as a highly comical tone.
To his credit, the images do look pretty stirring. One setting appears to be covered in a polluting haze, while another image features a large explosion off in the distance. The most telling image is the one that features the caption “Spicey?,” which suggests that the film will feature a trip to Kessel, the spice planet of Solo’s famous “Kessel Run” that came up in dialogue from the original trilogy. In fact, I’m relatively sure all these images are from Kessel, but clearly can’t confirm any of this until Howard does or the movie comes out.
Indeed, despite the sudden and rather cynical firing of Miller and Lord, which came not that long beforeColin Trevorrowwas fired fromEpisode IX, my anticipation for this movie is still mostly intact. Howard may be more competent than inventive as a director, especially compared to Miller and Lord, but he has it within himself to make a thoroughly entertaining movie, as he did withFrost/Nixon,Apollo 13, andCinderella Man. When his Han Solo movie hits theaters on May 25th, I will be on line and ready to be wowed.
Here’s Howard’s Instagram and Twitter posts:
