Star Wars fans are campaigning on social media for Lucasfilm to make a sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story. Released a year ago, the franchise's second standalone spinoff had arguably the most troubled existence of any Star Wars installment. The infamous production woes are well-documented at this point, with Ron Howard stepping in for the fired Phil Lord & Chris Miller and reshooting nearly all of the film. To make matters worse, Solo went down as the first Star Wars movie to lose money, grossing $392.9 million worldwide against a budget that exceeded $250 million.
Miraculously, Solo itself came out relatively fine. What could have been Star Wars' version of the Justice League fiasco ultimately went down as a fun and entertaining heist film in the galaxy far, far away, bolstered immensely by Alden Ehrenreich's terrific performance as a young Han Solo. Obviously, Solo didn't do well in theaters (due to a weak marketing campaign more than anything), but a lot of people have caught it at home in the months since and remarked how much they enjoyed it. Several fans have expressed their wish to see a sequel, and they're now taking to Twitter in an attempt to make it happen.
Spearheaded by the folks of Star Wars News Net's The Resistance Broadcast podcast, the hashtag #MakeSolo2Happen is trending on Twitter and as of this writing is one of the top topics in the United States. Fans from all over are sharing their love for Solo and explaining why they want Lucasfilm to make a sequel. Even Chewbacca actor Joonas Suotamo got in on the fun.
While Solo was conceived as a one-off, the door was always ajar for there to be followups. Ehrenreich said he signed a three-picture contract with the studio (which is typical business practice) and the Darth Maul scene seemed to tease a new storyline for Qi'ra. While any dangling threads could be picked up in another area of Star Wars canon (like a novel or limited comic series), it would be great to see young Han's adventures continue onscreen. Admittedly, the odds of a Solo 2 happening as a feature film are low right now; the first post-Star Wars 9 installment hits theaters in December 2022 and is from the David Benioff/D.B. Weiss series. However, Lucasfilm is producing content for the Disney+ streaming service, so perhaps Solo could receive a sequel on that platform. There is, after all, a mysterious third live-action Star Wars series in the works. If the dynamic duo of Cassian Andor and K-2SO can make the leap to the small screen, there's no reason why Han and Chewbacca can't do the same.
In an age where disgruntled fans use the internet to campaign against beloved pop culture like Game of Thrones and Star Wars: The Last Jedi, it's nice and refreshing to see a group of people use social media for good and spread positivity. The #MakeSolo2Happen hashtag represents the best the fandom has to offer, illustrating their passion for more stories in the galaxy far, far away. And, it should be noted, similar campaigns have saved TV shows from cancelation (see: Brooklyn Nine-Nine), so it isn't farfetched to think the Solo hashtag could make the same impact. All Star Wars fans interested in seeing any kind of Solo continuation should jump on the trend now.