Are we better off if Solo: A Star Wars Story fails?

Is a galaxy far, far away better off if Solo: A Star Wars story misses the mark and fails?

Will Solo: A Star Wars Story fall flat? 

Internet countdown clocks are clicking away furiously towards the summer movie season. Crashing websites are buzzing, and the never-ending drubbing of trailers, reviews, and random vocal fandom is about to beat our eyes, eardrums, hearts, and Facebook feeds.

After all, Marvel is finally releasing the culmination of a decade’s worth of blockbuster after blockbuster all to lead up to, perhaps, the first zillion dollar movie. Ryan Reynolds graces us again in the role he was born to play in Deadpool 2. Jurassic World: Why Did They Keep Creating The Dinosaurs is also on the horizon. Throw in Ocean’s 8, Incredibles 2, Mission Impossible 6, Ant-man and The Wass — and about eight or ten other event films and beg for fall to come so you can breathe again when you look into your wallet.

But, one movie that doesn’t seem to be getting its play in that same talk is Solo: A Star Wars Story. Not that it hasn’t generated any buzz, if you count Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s unceremonious exit, rumors that Ron Howard’s reshoots comprised three-quarters of the film or the stylish promo photos that were, apparently, lifted from a French photographer.

Throw in the supposed acting coach trying to help keep Alden Ehrenreich’s head above water, and you might have to believe that somewhere, a DCEU exec is in some dark boardroom poking needles into a cursed Han Solo voodoo doll.

All joking aside, one has to wonder if Kathleen Kennedy and her cohorts have been too ambitious with the franchise. After all, she has intimated you won’t be alive long enough to see the end of Star Wars. If that’s the case, what will be special about it anymore? Content for content’s sake waters down the product. We were almost all happy to hear of a new trilogy—but what has been lost and made Star Wars so special, to me, as I wasn’t sure if I’d ever get to see another new film again after Revenge of The Sith.

Now, we’re only four months removed from The Last Jedi and all the contentious bickering surrounding the film (for some silly reason). A film many fans are still trying to wrap their heads around. With Solo around the bend, we already know J.J. Abrams Episode IX is on the horizon, sooner than later.

Rian Johnson’s (Simultaneous fanboy gasps) new trilogy is in the works, a Benioff and Weiss (Please be Knights of The Old Republic) three-part production with, most likely, a Kenobi story shoe-horned in between and it’s enough to give the most ardent fan Star Wars fatigue.

Not to mention, the franchise’s move back to May is a head-scratcher. Especially, with Disney owning the box office in winter with their Star Wars films—one would figure that December would be a tentpole month for the franchise. And, what a strange year to change the formula, so to speak as Solo: A Star Wars Story is up against some stiff competition.

With this being the summer that Infinity War will likely smash global boxes. Perhaps the reason Marvel moved the original date back a week from its original May date.

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Factor in, we’re talking about Han Solo. An icon so large, it turned Harrison Ford from Carpenter/Videographer/Low-Grade-Actor into a certified blockbuster manufacturing machine.  An icon which, no matter how well his skills of mimicry are, Alden Ehrenreich will never be able to pull off.

Part of the charm of the character is we don’t know why the character is the way he is and, from what I recall, no one ever asked. After all, does Disney need to suction every last bit of blood money from rabid fans until Han and Chewbacca are nothing but mummified remains of what easy money used to look like?

Maybe the best thing to happen, unfortunately, is for Solo to tank. For Reps at Disney and Lucasfilm to cower as Mickey Mouse rampages at all the lost profits. Not because it won’t be a quality film in the ever growing catalog, but because that catalog might be growing too quickly.

What was it that Luke says to Palpatine? Oh, yes, it’s “You’re overconfidence is your weakness.”

Next: Our Solo and Denny’s behind the scenes experience!

However, I’m on standby—ready to punch my ticket and ride off into space. Just another passenger along for the ride on the Falcon.

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