Last week the second Star Wars Story anthology film, Solo, arrived in cinemas. Detailing the past of a young Han Solo (played in the episodic Star Wars films by Harrison Ford), it shows the various events that shaped his life from a young idealistic crook to a cynical space smuggler.
With the movie almost a week old and spoilers practically abound online, we will now list the important characters that drive the plot of Solo: A Star Wars Story. One of the characters on this list is the surprise cameo that warrants the spoiler reminder. You have been duly warned.
Solo’s Crew
- Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) – orphan from Corellia working as a street thug for a local crime boss; wants to travel the galaxy on his own ship; briefly serves the Empire as a pilot trainee and later “Mud-Trooper†infantry, before deserting to join a heist crew, which leads him to becoming a veteran smuggler
- Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) – Wookie imprisoned by the Empire on Mimban as a deserter “executionerâ€; Solo wins his trust due to his knowledge of the Wookie language, enabling their escape to join Beckett’s heist crew, later becoming his smuggling first mate
Beckett’s Crew – a veteran team of space criminals specializing in cargo heists
- Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson) – aging master crook and skilled blaster-slinger who becomes Solo’s mentor figure and catalyst for his later untrusting nature; later betrays Han, who bypasses his blaster marksmanship by shooting him first while in the middle of an argument
- Val Beckett (Thandie Newton) – Tobias’ wife and probably the only figure he trusts and holds genuine affection for; her death during the coaxium heist on planet Vandor hurts him deeply
- Rio Durant (Jon Favreau) – Beckett’s designated ship pilot, a four-armed alien; dies of his wounds during the coaxium heist when they are attacked by rival gang the Cloud Riders led by Enfys Nest
Crimson Dawn – a powerful and ruthless criminal syndicate that operates with minimal Imperial interference; hires Beckett’s crew for a job to steal coaxium hyper-fuel, but also reports to a higher authority
- Dryden Vos (Paul Betanny) – leader of the Crimson Dawn, a scarred human-like alien who vacillates between affable and murderous; a master of the Teras Kasi martial art who uses knives; runs his organization with an iron fist but also defers to his mysterious boss; dies after being double-crossed by Han, Beckett and Qi’ra
- Qi’ra (Emilia Clarke) – smalltime crook from Corellia who was Han’s girlfriend; fails to escape the planet with Han and was left until recruited into Crimson Dawn by Vos; personally taught by Vos and became his lieutenant; although reunited with Han, her experience with Crimson Dawn leads her to forsake going with him and take over the gang after Vos’ death
Millennium Falcon Crew
- Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) – legendary smuggler and captain of the Millennium Falcon, a Corellia-made YT-1300 space freighter that he customized into a pleasure craft; recommended by Qi’ra to transport unrefined coaxium that Beckett’s crew and Han would steal from Kessel, and then take to a refinery world in a limited time period before the hyper-fuel explodes; later loses the Falcon to Han in a game of Sabacc
- L3-37 (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) – Lando’s droid first mate with an advance navigational program, and an opinionated advocate of droid rights; damaged beyond repair during the coaxium heist on Kessel, but her navigational computer is installed on the Falcon, making them one
Others
- Enfys Nest (Erin Kellyman) – leader of the Cloud Riders gang, in reality a group of dissidents who want to overthrow the Empire and are gathering resources to launch an open Rebellion
- SPOILER CHARACTER: [Darth] Maul (Ray Park, voiced by Sam Witwer) – former Sith apprentice of Darth Sidious/Emperor Palpatine; survived his duel with Obi-Wan Kenobi and becomes a criminal kingpin with over-lordship over multiple crime syndicates like Black Sun and Crimson Dawn; would die in a final duel with Obi-Wan as seen in Star Wars Rebels, happening years later from the events of Solo
