Solo: A Star Wars Story will undoubtedly feature plenty of connections to previous films in the franchise, but hopefully Ron Howard and company showed some restraint in regards to cameos. The film is a prequel covering Han Solo's youth from ages 18 to 24 as he looks to make a name for himself in the criminal underworld. Along the way, he meets his lifelong pal Chewbacca, encounters Lando Calrissian, and wins the Millennium Falcon. For a while, Solo has been described as an origin story for the classic character, establishing how he became the cynical smuggler Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi meet at the cantina.
The modern Star Wars films are chock full of Easter eggs for people to spot, and in some cases, viewers would argue Lucasfilm has gone too far in a few places. The studio's last anthology film, Rogue One, featured criticized appearances by A New Hope's Dr. Evazan and Ponda Baba (the cantina patrons that attack Luke) and R2-D2 and C-3PO. In both instances, even the biggest Rogue One enthusiasts would argue they amounted to little more than cheap fan service. Time will tell what surprises Solo has in store, but there are a few legacy characters we'd rather not see again.
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Darth Vader
Vader's presence in Rogue One made a lot of sense - and not just for the obvious business reasons. With Gareth Edwards' film dealing directly with the Rebellion/Empire conflict, it would have been odd if the Imperial enforcer wasn't part of the proceedings. Vader almost had to be in Rogue One, and the filmmakers ensured his brief role paid off memorably. In the case of Solo, things are different. Yes, the spinoff is set in the heyday of the Galactic Empire, but the Star Wars universe is an expansive place, so Vader's absence could be easily explainable. From a story perspective, there's simply no need for his inclusion, especially since Solo is more about an exploration of the seedy underbelly.
Howard also has an abundance of classic Star Wars iconography to take advantage of with Han, Chewie, Lando, and the Falcon all featuring heavily in the marketing campaign. There's already enough nostalgic elements to complement the new aspects, so forcing Vader in too would be a disservice. There's no need to shoehorn him into Solo, and it would probably just illicit eye rolls if he strolled onto the screen. At this point in the timeline, Vader was more of a mythical figure who stayed in the shadows, so it'd be wise to honor that.
Anyone from Rogue One
Keeping with the Rogue One theme, the cast of new faces we met two years ago should also be avoided. In many cases, it'd be far too contrived. During the events of Solo, Jyn Erso is on her own committing random crimes, Cassian Andor is with the Alliance, and Chirrut ÃŽmwe is panhandling on the streets of Jedha to spread word about the Force. Solo should be staying far away from the aforementioned religious moon and Yavin IV, seeing that its primary locations include Corellia and Kessel. Perhaps Director Krennic pops up when young Han signs up for the Empire, but even that'd be too wink-wink.
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It's true certain members of the Rogue One cast actually have multi-picture deals with Lucasfilm (despite the finale where everyone died), but Solo is not the place to pick those options up. The whole idea behind the anthology initiative was to show how large the Star Wars galaxy is, and seeing one too many familiar individuals runs the risk of making it feel small. The spotlight should be on Han, Chewie, and the new Solo characters. If Jyn or another Rogue One member showed up, it would be quite distracting.
Jedi Knights
The Jedi Order was largely extinct post-Revenge of the Sith, but Star Wars Rebels showed there were still a few out there fighting the good fight. Many fans would love to see one (or more) of these characters show up in a live-action film, but Solo is the rare Star Wars movie that should actually minimize the role of the Force. Based on franchise canon, the property's most defining aspect probably shouldn't even be mentioned.
As Han told Luke in A New Hope, he's never seen anything to make him believe there's an all-powerful Force during his travels from one side of the galaxy to the other. It's possible there's something that Han brushes off as "simple tricks and nonsense," but it's definitely not necessary for this film. Fortunately, the Lucasfilm story group is in place to prevent any inconsistencies from happening, and they've shown time and time again they have an excellent handle on Star Wars. Wedge Antilles didn't cameo in Rogue One due to New Hope dialogue, so the creative team most likely won't let something like this slip through the cracks.
Princess Leia
Han and Leia is one of the most famous love stories in all of pop culture, but their place is the original trilogy (and Force Awakens). The Princess brought the house down with a last-scene cameo in Rogue One, but much like her Sith Lord father, that made sense for the story. Rogue One led directly into A New Hope with Leia receiving the Death Star plans. It's hard to see how she could organically fit into the Solo narrative, which picks up roughly 11 years before Episode IV and ends 5 years prior to the original film.
Judging by Solo's place in the timeline, Leia is an 8-year old girl living on Alderaan when the spinoff begins and a young teenager by the time the credits roll. She didn't even become involved in the Rebel Alliance until she turned 16, so there's absolutely no reason for her to be spending time with scoundrels and smugglers in her youth. And again, Solo takes viewers through the criminal underworld, far removed from Alderaan. This one wasn't very feasible to begin with, but Han's future wife shouldn't even show up in hologram form on a HoloNet broadcast. We spent plenty of time with them in the saga. Solo is for Han's other relationships.
Jabba the Hutt
Throughout the original trilogy, Han was haunted by his connection to the slimy gangster. The two characters are tied together so closely, there's been a never-ending stream of rumors purporting Jabba will show up in Solo. Set photos and merchandise seem to provide some evidence lending credence to these claims, though nothing official has come out yet. On the surface, incorporating the slug into the spinoff sounds reasonable, but it's another case of something that's not truly needed for the story Solo is trying to tell.
Star Wars canon has actually already covered the backstory behind Han's debt with Jabba. The novel From a Certain Point of View goes into great detail about the specifics that happened, leading us to believe Lucasfilm never intended to dedicate screen time to it. One of the fears of Solo when it was first announced is that it'd just become Original Trilogy Reference: The Movie, and one way to subvert that would be to show us a Han and Chewie misadventure we have no prior knowledge of. Plus, if Solo is about Han becoming the smuggler he is in the saga films, he doesn't have to cross paths with Jabba too. He still has many years to form that business relationship.
Greedo
The incompetent Rodian and Han will forever be intertwined due to their famous cantina scene (and the various alterations), but we don't need to see the beginnings of their dynamic. Greedo, of course, was one of the bounty hunters who tracked Solo down for Jabba (before meeting his unfortunate end), and we've already established the prequel won't have time to feature that part of Han's shady past. Unless Greedo is part of the crew Beckett assembles for the Conveyex heist (and he's not; that likely would have been revealed by now), there's no place for him in this story.
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Much like Jabba, this is another area of Han's life that was fleshed out in From a Certain Point of View, where it's revealed Han more or less stole Greedo's girlfriend, which caused the Rodian to hold a personal grudge. That sounds like a fun tale, but it might be better served for a comic series or a separate novel. It's not something the films need to worry about. Again, the movies are trying to help the Star Wars universe grow, so retreading too much of the past is limiting from a creative perspective.
Boba Fett
It's a little controversial to say Solo doesn't need Boba Fett, but a close analysis of the situation shows that's the case. For starters, the fan-favorite Mandalorian probably would have been confirmed at this point if he was in the film. Lucasfilm knows he's a marketable character, and they'd want to generate excitement about his involvement. As it stands, Solo sports a cool-looking helmeted adversary of its own in the form of Enfys Nest. Since there wasn't a place for Boba in the main story, it would just be frustrating fan service if he was thrown into a scene as a gratuitous cameo. Fett's lack of screen time is infamous, so if he is to reappear somewhere, it'd be better if it was for a meaty role.
It'll be interesting to see what Boba's future is. At one point, the bounty hunter was set to be the subject of his own, Josh Trank-directed spinoff movie, but that project was canned before it gained much traction. New Han Alden Ehrenreich is rumored to be locked into a three-picture contract, so if there are Solo sequels, perhaps Boba could factor in there. But with Lucasfilm already forging ahead on Rian Johnson's new trilogy and David Benioff & D.B. Weiss' film series, Boba Fett could be on the back-burner and never revived.
Maz Kanata
Maz is another saga character who's been rumored for Solo, and at first blush that makes sense. Introduced in The Force Awakens, the ancient alien is an ally Han and Chewie trust in times of need. Episode VII made allusions to their history, and one way to interpret that is laying seeds for future installments. Solo had already been announced before Force Awakens hit theaters, and fans were quick to put two and two together and speculate. However, Solo doesn't need a Maz cameo in order to be successful.
The sequel trilogy has already shown the limitations of the character, as both J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson were at a loss of what to do with her. Johnson even admitted on his Last Jedi commentary he originally gave Maz more to do before realizing her beats could be handled by others. There's no real reason to tack her on to Solo, as it would probably be another "plot catalyst" scene where Maz points the main heroes in the direction of the next story thread. Plus, given Lupita Nyong'o's stature, it would be difficult to keep her role under wraps for this long. Like others on our list, she likely would have been revealed if she was in Solo.
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Fortunately, Solo is co-written by Lawrence Kasdan, a Lucasfilm legend who penned The Empire Strikes Back, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens. He's a smart scribe who knows how to pen an entertaining blockbuster, and what little we know about his latest makes it sound like he has some surprises in store. Obviously, there are going to be some inevitable original trilogy connections, but it seems like the film will primarily tell a new narrative to get invested in without using nostalgia as a crutch. Hopefully that's the case, and whatever Easter eggs are in Solo are natural fits.
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