Woody Harrelson Confirmed As Han Solo’s Mentor

Woody Harrelson

by John Nugent |
Published on

UPDATE: Harrelson has officially confirmed he's taking the role. In the expanded universe, Solo as a young orphan was taken in by the cruel, Fagin-like Garris Shrike, who uses kids to steal for him. Of course, the expanded universe is no longer considered canon, so it remains to be seen quite how much this translates to a character in the movie.

Han Solo takes orders from just one person. And yet – we might get to see another person he initially took orders from. News has reached us that Woody Harrelson could be playing the scruffy-looking nerf herder's mentor in the upcoming young Han Solo Star Wars spin-off.

Variety reports that the actor's lackadaisical Texan drawls could soon be heard in a galaxy far, far away. Harrelson is apparently only in the early stages of talks, but he is the top choice among Lucasfilm and the standalone project's directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Harrelson would be one of the last major characters to be cast in the still-untitled project, which has Alden Ehrenreich in the role originally made famous by Harrison Ford, plus Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian and Emilia Clarke in an unnamed role.

Filming is due to begin as early as this month, and the film is currently due to be released in May 2018 – although, if rumours are to be believed, odds are it will be pushed back to December of that year. We all know how Han felt about odds, though.

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