10 Reasons Disney Needs To Make Solo 2 Happen
Why everyone's favourite smuggler deserves a new adventure.
While Solo: A Star Wars Story bombed at the box office by Disney standards, making a profit of a mere $92million, it has become something of an unlikely fan favourite.
An underdog in the franchise, the announcement of Solo: A Star Wars Story came as something of a shock. Instead of straying away from the Skywalker Saga - as the 'Anthology' movies were bound to do - Solo honed in on an Original Trilogy character, giving fans a backstory they never asked for.
Solo is a flawed movie in many ways. What could have been a compelling character study detailing why the bright-eyed cheeky gunslinger turned into the cynical self-centred antihero fans fell in love with way back in 1977 quickly became a paint-by-numbers sequence of fan-pandering micro-adventures, detailing instances such as how Han got his blaster (ooooo!) and why he's called Solo (ahhhhh!).
Still, despite - or perhaps because of - these silly moments of fan service, Solo proved to be a lighthearted space romp, a welcome tonic after the relatively darker The Last Jedi. Having a much more open ending than its predecessor Rogue One, Solo's story seems unfinished - and quite rightly, fans have been asking for a sequel of the film they never knew they wanted.
10. It's A Fan Favourite
Despite its poor box office performance, Solo has proved hugely popular among fans, making it to the upper tiers of a number of 'Best Star Wars Movies' across all corners of the internet. Critics lauded the film for its light hearted summer blockbuster tone and stunning visuals, as well as Donald Glover's unforgettable take on the smooth-talking, always-charming Lando Calrissian.
Two years on (and with all future Star Wars Stories apparently scrapped), fans are still calling for a sequel, with a hashtag #MakeSolo2Happen and accompanying petition taking Twitter by storm in recent months.
If Disney is worried about making a box office loss, they could release a lower-budget sequel (for no good reason at all, Solo turned out to be the most expensive Star Wars movie ever made), launching straight on their flagship streaming service Disney+.
Indeed, this might be the best way to go: a Disney+ Solo sequel might even attract fans not convinced by the Mandalorian to subscribe to the service. Plus, a lower-budget adventure might give us the character study fans deserve.
Two hours of Han stalking around gloomy cantinas, lamenting Kira's betrayal and complaining about his new boss Jabba The Hutt? Seems like something Dave Filoni could just about pull off....