Who's that Wookiee? Chewie has a close personal friend in 'Solo' and Star Wars fans can't handle it
Oh Chewbacca, who was that Wookiee I saw you with tonight?
One scene from the Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer that dropped Sunday night is topping many fan's lists of WTF moments. And it isn't one about Han, it's about his trusty furry co-pilot.
In a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment, Chewie is seen head-hugging a fellow Wookiee. This is huge: Chewie is emotionally connecting with a fellow Wookiee for the first time in all of Star Wars filmed entertainment. That is ... if you don't count the worst piece of Star Wars filmed entertainment, the dreaded TV Holiday Special.
(PSA: Do not now, or ever, watch the Holiday Special. It's not the fun kind of "so bad." It is ... another kind. From the Dark Side.)
In the Holiday Special -- canon status uncertain -- Chewie is seen returning to his family on the planet Kashyyyk for the Wookiee holiday "Life Day." He has a wife, a son, and a horndog ol' grandpaw. The Wookiee wife is called Malla, short for Mallatobuck.
So when the mystery Wookiee hug appeared in the Solo trailer, many hardcore nerd minds went to the same place:
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It was as if the Holiday Special had never crashed and burned. Life Day is back, baby!
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This reaction may not be the best of signs for Solo (which lost its first directors, among other reported troubles). The Wookiee moment kind of outshone the first real look we've had at the acting chops of young Han Solo himself, Alden Ehrenreich.
He hasn't caught fire on screen, exactly, in these trailers, though his performance may be a slow build up. With Lando Calrissian it's a different story; Donald Glover seems to have the necessary swagger from the first.
That's alright. It's an ensemble flick, as all the best Star Wars films are. There seem to be the beginnings of many memorable performances, and it's nice to see Wookiees rising to the challenge to make us care about the characters.
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But speculation about a Wookiee love story as a Solo subplot is premature. Sure, Malla is the Wookiee fans would most like to see made unambiguous canon on screen, if only for Chewie's sake. But Lawrence and Jon Kasdan (veteran Star Wars screenwriter and son) may not want to plump for the obvious choice.
After all, Chewie had a son. Lumpawaroo was his name, more commonly Lumpy. They too could have a tender head-lock, no? Or maybe it's someone else entirely, a girl or guy in a port; a galactic affair, perhaps, before he settled down with — let's call her Malla.
Regardless, for many Star Wars obsessives, it's the most heated debate since December's The Last Jedi. And for many more, worrying about a Wookiee romance makes a nice break from dissecting Rian Johnson's more controversial decisions.
Chris is a veteran tech, entertainment and culture journalist, author of 'How Star Wars Conquered the Universe,' and co-host of the Doctor Who podcast 'Pull to Open.' Hailing from the U.K., Chris got his start as a sub editor on national newspapers. He moved to the U.S. in 1996, and became senior news writer for Time.com a year later. In 2000, he was named San Francisco bureau chief for Time magazine. He has served as senior editor for Business 2.0, and West Coast editor for Fortune Small Business and Fast Company. Chris is a graduate of Merton College, Oxford and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism. He is also a long-time volunteer at 826 Valencia, the nationwide after-school program co-founded by author Dave Eggers. His book on the history of Star Wars is an international bestseller and has been translated into 11 languages.
