20 Essential Movie Performances That Will Define 2018

1. Alden Ehrenreich - Han Solo (Solo: A Star Wars Story)

The Role: A youthful iteration of legendary smuggler and charming outlaw Han Solo, as he teams with his Wookie pal Chewbecca and fellow smuggler Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover).

Why It'll Define 2018: Regardless of how the troubled Han Solo movie actually turns out, all eyes are going to be on lead Alden Ehrenreich when the film finally hits screens.

Pre-release murmurs suggest that Lucasfilm hired an acting coach for Ehrenreich mid-production after being dissatisfied with his performance, and the first trailer suspiciously didn't place much focus on his presence at all.

Amid rumours that Disney is "writing off" the film as a dud, Ehrenreich's performance will be a major talking point of 2018, either as a pleasant surprise or as depressing confirmation that a Han Solo origin story probably never needed to be made, and trying to impersonate Harrison Ford's indelible performance was always asking for trouble.

It'd be awesome if Ehrenreich surprised everyone, but let's be honest: most people are sensibly banking on the latter.

Which performances are you most looking forward to through the rest of 2018? Shout them out in the comments!