Earlier this week, Variety broke the news that Lucasfilm is currently testing for a lead actress in the Han Solo spin-off. According to the trade, Tessa Thompson, Naomi Scott, and Zoe Kravitz have all auditioned for the role. In case you aren”t keeping track, none of those actresses are white. As the untitled Han Solo project is a prequel starring Alden Ehrenreich as the young smuggler, fans familiar with Marvel”s Star Wars comics series immediately deduced the female lead could be Sana Solo (née Starros).
You know, Han Solo”s wife.
Image Credit: Marvel Entertainment
Okay, so there”s some debate over the legality of said marriage. But if Lucasfilm is on the hunt for their live-action Sana Starros, the plot of the prequel has already been hinted at thanks to the Star Wars comic by Jason Aaron and John Cassaday. Within the series, Sana is introduced as a bounty hunter with a grudge against her former flame/husband, Han Solo. Tracking his location to an unknown planet, she gets drawn into a rescue attempt of Luke Skywalker by Solo and Princess Leia. Throughout the arc, Sana refers to Han as her husband though the scruffy-looking nerf herder vehemently denies it. It isn”t until the end of the storyline that the truth comes out…and the truth sounds like the plot of a pretty good movie.
WARNING: STAR WARS SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT!
Before Han Solo was on the Empire”s Most Wanted list. Before he owed an awful lot of money to Jabba the Hutt. Before he was hero…he was a con artist. On the planet of Stenness*, an unknown crime lord ran a gambling den. Solo and Sana Starros were part of a group that hoped to alleviate the casino of its credits. In order to do so, they staged an elaborate wedding ceremony in which Han and Sana “married” as a diversion and/or cover. Afterward, in traditional Han Solo fashion, the smuggler absconded…with Sana”s part of the goods.
*Fun fact: Stenness is probably named for the Standing Stones of Stenness in Scotland. While there is no official description of the planet to date, a Scottish moor wouldn”t be out of the question.
Miffed at being conned, Sana set a trap for Han on the unknown planet where he landed with Princess Leia when they were fleeing the Empire. Interestingly, Sana was quite familiar with the planet, saying it was one of Han”s favorite rendezvous points. She even had Leia”s number, saying Han could never resist a princess in distress, before going on about a Sultan's daughter and moon.
Image Credit: Marvel Entertainment
While one could take these two incidents – a princess romanced and a bounty hunter conned – perhaps they are one in the same? Could Sana be the Sultan”s daughter? Regardless of how they met, and despite the murky legality of their marriage – is seems at some point Han and Sana were romantically involved. If only for the occasional tryst. Whisking away a Sultan”s daughter, teaching her the ways of the intergalactic underworld, marrying her and then fleeing for reasons unknown certainly sounds like a good movie.
Don”t you think?