Cantina Talk: The New Star Wars Trilogy Looks to the Past, Solo Looks to Denny's

March 20, 2019 Off By HotelSalesCareers

As Solo: A Star Wars Story continues its rapid march to completion—a process director Ron Howard likes to keep fans abreast of—things have remained pretty quiet on the Star Wars front over the last couple of weeks, which is good; it lets everyone watch The Director and the Jedi in peace. But, as always, things continue to move forward. Here's what's happened in the Lucasfilm universe over the past fortnight.

The Next Trilogy Will Feel Old in the Best Way

The Source: Writer/director Rian Johnson

Probability of Accuracy: Only Johnson knows what’s going on in his own head, so let’s say it’s probably very accurate.

The Real Deal: Wondering what Rian Johnson’s new Star Wars trilogy is going to entail? So does Johnson, who told Digital Spy that he’s "looking at everything right now … I’m honestly just in this very nice, 'OK, what is this thing going to be?' phase." He does have a slightly better idea of what he's working towards than that, however. "Really, the only goal I have is to think about how Star Wars made me feel as a kid. And that's it," he continued. "I'm trying to capture: What is that, if it's not iconography that we recognize, necessarily, from the original trilogy? What captures that spirit? What can be that for a kid who's never heard of Star Wars? It's getting back to the very fundamental questions of what makes this what it is." Sounds pretty existential, but also the kind of thing that the franchise needs as a whole if it is going to grow beyond the Skywalker Saga characters and events it's currently anchored to.

Denny’s Is the Hangout For Star Wars' Newest Characters

The Source: Denny’s itself

Probability of Accuracy: Amazingly, kind of true; the diner chain really did reveal new Solo characters.

The Real Deal: As anyone with a Moons Over My Hammy habit already knows, Denny’s has partnered with Lucasfilm to promote Solo: A Star Wars Story (and also No Kid Hungry, an anti-child hunger charity the restaurant chain supports). Along with a Solo-themed menu, the partnership includes exclusive limited edition trading cards—which introduced all-new characters from the movie, one of whom is actually called Therm Scissorpunch—and a pretty great little TV ad for the whole thing.

The five other brands that have signed promotional deals for Solo are Esurance, Nissan, General Mills, Symantec, and Solo Cup, so expect to see some really strange commercials over the next few weeks. (Especially Esurance, let’s be honest.) Is this enough to get people excited about Solo? Well, if you can’t get excited about Therm, what can you be excited about?

That’s a Plot Point No One's Heard in a Long, Long Time

The Source: Mark Hamill, repeating something George Lucas apparently came up with

Probability of Accuracy: It’s difficult to judge, because what if Hamill is misremembering, or Lucas was simply free-associating?

The Real Deal: In the middle of an interview with IGN, Mark Hamill dropped a piece of information that, if true, is part of a mythical concept that many believed didn’t actually exist—George Lucas’ plans for Episodes VII through IX. Well, specifically, his plan for the end of Episode IX. When discussing the fate of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Hamill dropped the following bombshell in an impressively offhanded way: "I happen to know that George didn't kill Luke until the end of [Episode] IX, after he trained Leia. Which is another thread that was never played upon [in The Last Jedi]." Does this mean that Hamill knows what else Lucas was planning for the final three episodes of the Skywalker Saga? And if so, can he share, please? (Or George Lucas, you could share as well. We’d be more than cool with that.)

The Plot Resolution That (Maybe) Wasn’t

The Source: Simon Pegg, paraphrasing J.J. Abrams

Probability of Accuracy: Again, it’s difficult to judge accuracy given the circumstances involved…

The Real Deal: While we’re on about dropped plot points from filmmakers not attached to particular stories… Talking on the latest episode of the Happy Sad Confused podcast, Simon Pegg apparently confirmed what fans have long expected: That Rey wasn’t always intended to be a nobody, as revealed in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. "Well, I know what J.J. [Abrams, writer/director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens] kind of intended, or at least what was sort of being chucked around. I think that’s kind of been undone slightly by [The Last Jedi]," he said. "There was some talk about, you know, a kind of relevant lineage for her. But I honestly don’t know, and I don’t know if anybody knows. We shall see." That last sentence might turn out to be foreshadowing, considering that Abrams is in charge of the final movie in the trilogy. Would he undo the big reveal from The Last Jedi to work in his own ideas about who Rey is? We’ll find out in December 2019.

Finally, You Can Launch Your Very Own Boba Fett Into the Sarlacc

The Source: Hasbro’s new crowdfunding arm, of all places

Probability of Accuracy: This is entirely accurate.

The Real Deal: Good news for toy-lovers with deep pockets: Jabba's Sail Barge is coming soon. The inaugural project from Hasbro's crowdfunded HasLab required that 5,000 people sign up for the $500 toy before it would be willed into existence, and a grand total of 8,810 got in line, so now Hasbro is making the toy for a February release. It's going to be big—more than four feet long, a foot wide, and nearly 14 pounds—and it'll come complete with a Jabba the Hutt figure sitting below the decks waiting to be killed. (Hasbro has to give the people what they want, apparently.) The question now is, what will Hasbro do for an encore? We're holding out hope for a scale replica of Starkiller Base, honestly.

The Mos Eisley Cannes-tina?

The Source: Official Lucasfilm announcement.

Probability of Accuracy: It's 100 percent true.

The Real Deal: Han Solo is headed to the French Riviera. Ten days ahead of its May 25 release, Solo: A Star Wars Story will have its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival. The announcement came as something of a surprise, but it's not entirely uncommon for a Star Wars film to come to the festival—Episode II—Attack of the Clones and Episode III—Revenge of the Sith both screened at Cannes. Director Ron Howard and much of the cast are expected to stroll the red carpet at the premiere. No word on whether or not Chewbacca will show up, or if he could stand the heat under all that fur.