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Solo: A Star Wars Story: We take a closer look at the Millennium Falcon

By Neil Harrington

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We take a closer look at the Millennium Falcon in Solo: A Star Wars Story, which has a much different appearance than it does during the events of the Original Trilogy.

Solo: A Star Wars Story showcases a hot off the press version of the Millennium Falcon, one that Han Solo wins “fair and square” in a game of the Correlian Spike variation of Sabacc. The film is going to tell us that epic tale, as well as how the Millennium Falcon changes it’s appearance drastically, within just a decade or so of time.

From the Solo: A Star Wars Story teaser trailers, we get our first glimpse at the Millennium Falcon, one that looks like an entirely different cargo ship.

Take a look yourself at the “new” Millennium Falcon — she’s a beauty, isn’t she?

Here’s another view of the iconic YT-1300 model freighter.

Now, compare the Solo version of the Falcon to it’s “counterpart” from A New Hope. 

Photo Credit: Lucasfilm

After carefully inspecting the Falcon, here a few differences we noticed:

  • Instead of the souped-up quads, we have a single-turret gunner
  • The back of the Falcon is immensely different
  • The plates over the side of airlocks aren’t present — which extend out past the thruster later on in the Star Wars timeline.
  • When Luke says: “what a piece of junk,” he’s referring to the entire front end missing from the ship — it’s present within this variation of the Falcon
  • The paint job is much more elegant, with stripes of blue located on the top in different spots
  • The interior is squeaky clean and looks brand-spanking new

With the events of A New Hope, give or take, ten years following Solo: A Star Wars Story, how do you explain a completely different look of the Millenium Falcon?

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For starters, Han Solo owes Jabba loads of cash, so it’s plausible he uses panels and parts of his ship to give to Jabba the Hutt or sells them on the black market to pay off some old debts.

Also, if you remember, Han Solo tells Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker that he’s “made some special modifications himself.” That would explain why the Falcon looks so rough during the Original Trilogy.

Most recently, Entertainment Weekly’s Anthony Breznican’s excellent and exclusive coverage of Solo: A Star Wars Story reveals that Lando Calrissian and Han Solo have different ways of treating the Falcon. Lando enjoys the luxurious life and keeping his ride in top-notch shape.

Meanwhile, Han Solo isn’t concerned with how it looks, but with how fast she moves. It may explain the reason that the two have a falling out until they reunite in The Empire Strikes Back. It could be the reason why Lando is willing to give Han, Luke, Chewie, and Leia over to Darth Vader in Cloud City on Bespin — due to holding a grudge.

"We go way back, Lando and me."

We will find out just how far back they go in this film, with the Millennium Falcon as maybe the venue of telling such story. No doubt Han Solo wasn’t entirely honest during their winner takes all Sabacc game for the Millennium Falcon. Here in just a few months, we’ll know the answer to such questions, but speculating and discussing Star Wars is what us fans do best.

Next: George Lucas directed a scene in Solo

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theatres May 25, 2018, worldwide.

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