10 Things You Didn't Know About The Millennium Falcon
Experience the secret history of science fiction's best-loved bucket of bolts.
Think of the coolest spaceship in history. The odds are pretty good that you just pictured the distinctive sort-of-flying-saucer shape of the Millennium Falcon, temperamental steed of smuggler Han Solo and participant in some of the greatest space dogfights ever committed to the silver screen.
A half-built Falcon on the set of The Force Awakens was one of the first glimpses of the new Disney-era trilogy, and it caused Star Wars fans the world over to release a collective gasp of relief. It meant the series was heading back to familiar territory, and nothing could be more emblematic of Star Wars than the Falcon.
Like just about everything in Star Wars, there is a LOT of stuff out there about the Millennium Falcon. Since 1977 it has been accumulating backstage and on-screen lore - everything from where every nut and bolt goes to which scum and villains have owned it over the centuries.
With the Falcon due to return in The Last Jedi, it's only going to consolidate its place in the pantheon of awesome cinematic space things, especially given how much there is to know about the heavily modified YT-1300 light freighter that made the Kessel run in under 12 parsecs...
10. It's Alive
Star Wars 'Legends' canon includes all the books, comics and other media created outside the continuity of the movie series, safely compartmentalised away from the cinematic canon by decree of Disney so its insanity can bubble away without compromising the future film series. According to Legends, the Millennium Falcon is alive, and leaped off its production line like an animal trying to break its leash.
Even outside the murky world of Star Wars Legends, the movies hint at the Falcon having a personality of its own. Quite apart from playfully breaking down at the worst possible moment, the Falcon can also talk, at least to other machines.
One of the reasons Han keeps C-3PO around is that the fussy golden jerk can communicate with the Falcon and ask it what's wrong with it this time. In The Empire Strikes Back, C-3PO mentions the Falcon has a 'most peculiar' dialect, which hopefully means its language was as salty as a pregnant drill sergeant.