Well, this should at least please some of you who responded to our impromptu poll based on which** Star Wars** characters you want to see in standalone films. Entertainment Weekly has heard from “sources” (so this all still floats in that not-quite-official void for now) that Disney and Lucasfilm are discussing ideas for films about the young Han Solo and a bounty hunter adventure featuring the man in the mask, Boba Fett.
From what EW’s Anthony Breznican has gathered, the idea for Solo is to focus on his early scoundrel days, set some time between Revenge Of The Sith and when we meet him in A New Hope Star Wars. That would naturally require someone to take over one of the most iconic roles in cinema history. Boy, we wouldn’t want to be in charge of finding that person or pulling off that trick...
As for the Fett film, that would occur somewhere around the original trilogy, when he was at his prime, and before he made that possibly fatal last flight into the Sarlaac’s giant gob. Because unless the non-canon tales of him making it out become true, the tale of Fett musing on his life as he’s messily digested doesn’t exactly hold much appeal.
Of course, placing the films within the timeline of the original trilogy means there’s scope for interaction with other iconic characters – EW suggests Darth Vader could be back – but for now it’s all early days and everything can change.
What we do know that in addition to helping with work on the new trilogy (with the JJ Abrams-directed Episode VII expected in 2015), Lawrence Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are overseeing the standalone movies’ development. Oh, and... Called it!