In a recent Vanity Fair article detailing the future of Star Wars and its projects, it was noted that recasting iconic characters would not be the way forward for the franchise, citing Solo: A Star Wars Story's box office bombing as the big reason why. This is a huge mistake.
It is wrong to put the failure of Solo on the shoulders of its fantastic performances, especially since Star Wars has proved time and time again that recasting characters for one reason or another can work wonders. In fact, some of the best performances in Star Wars have been recasts and are proof that the franchise should use this rather than often lifeless CGI going forward.
Matt Lanter (& Everybody Else) As Anakin Skywalker
Anakin Skywalker has been performed by numerous actors over the years, from Sebastian Stan to Jake Loyd to Hayden Christensen in live-action to Mat Lucas and Matt Lanter in the two different versions of The Clone Wars. All of these recasts were justified.
Matt Lanter's performance is especially noteworthy. Mat Lucas in the 2002 version of The Clone Wars was great, but Lanter better represented a slightly different time in Anakin's life. Through his vocal performances, he enhanced the prequel version of the character and bridged the gap between episodes two and three. Hayden Christensen could have been asked to do the 2008 movie and subsequent TV show, but Lanter was the right choice and made a fitting Anakin.
Joonas Suotamo As Chewbacca
Sometimes performers cannot physically continue their roles in franchises, but this does not mean their character should be morphed into a CGI model, as is proved by Chewbacca, who the late, great Peter Mayhew once performed.
Casual fans probably would not even know a different actor physically performed the role of Chewbacca in the sequels. Either that, or they would assume it were other random actors of the same height. The decision to bring in Suotamo did nothing to alter the perception of Chewbacca, and the physical performance is spot on.
Joel Egerton As Owen Lars
Owen Lars is not on the level of iconic that Han Solo holds, but he is a character everyone knows. His getting recast in the prequel trilogy and now Obi-Wan Kenobi, with Joel Egerton taking on the role, has proved to be a great decision.
Obviously, fans do not get much of him in the prequel trilogy, but from what has been shown of Obi-Wan Kenobi thus far, Egerton looks excellent, giving a performance that bridges that prequel/original trilogy gap. Why should technology be used for other iconic characters going forward when actors like Joel Egerton can give fitting, worthy performances?
Temura Morrison As Boba Fett
Temura Morrison is such an interesting recast. Not because the original performers of Boba Fett, Jeremy Bulloch (physical) and Jason Wingreen (voice), could not be used in the prequels or The Book Of Boba Fett, but because Star Wars actually went back and put Morrison in the original trilogy.
This was a great decision, and now, to just about every fan, Temura Morrison is Boba Fett. But back then, he was not. Back then, it was Jason Wingreen's voice and Jermy Bulloch's physical presence. So what if they had opted to use Bulloch as the clone template? It would not have worked. Recasts like this are crucial to not only the singular piece of content (Attack Of The Clones in this instance) but the future of the franchise.
James Arnold Taylor & Stephen Stanton As Obi-Wan Kenobi
Obi-Wan Kenobi has had so many performers over the years, all of them outstanding, but one of the more fascinating recasts is in animation, where both James Arnold Taylor and Stephen Stanton shine in The Clone Wars and Rebels, respectively - both of which are also important to watch before Obi-Wan Kenobi.
Despite Taylor voicing Obi-Wan before and after Rebels and even voicing a younger Obi-Wan in a hologram in the show, he got recast for the epic "Twin Suns" episode, with Stanton voicing the character. This proved a stroke of genius, because Stanton was exactly what was needed. Taylor is incredible in the role and the perfect recast of Ewan McGregor, but Stanton gave that Ben Kenobi-feel that fit Rebels so well. When the story demands it, actors can be recast, and it can significantly enhance proceedings.
Sam Witwer As Maul
In The Phantom Menace, Darth Maul is physically performed by Ray Park but is actually voiced by Peter Serafinowicz. Since then, fans have known Maul as being voiced terrifically by Sam Witwer, who has helped Maul become one of Star Wars' best villains.
Not only does Witwer voice Maul throughout animated Star Wars, but he even voices the character in Solo. Now, Serafinowicz's performance was not a Harrison Ford performance, but he could very easily have been brought back to voice the character, particularly in Solo. Instead, Witwer made the role his own, and his voice perfectly fits the character, particularly in his post-Duel of the Fates state.
Ian McDiarmid As The Emperor
Something about Star Wars many people may forget is that Star Wars' most powerful villain, the Emperor, was not originally played by Ian McDiarmid. That seems ridiculous, but Clive Revill was the first performer of the Emperor in The Empire Strikes Back.
Fans in 1980 were unquestionably anticipating seeing Revill's Emperor in Return Of The Jedi, but instead, it was Ian McDiarmid's incredible outing as the Sith Lord that arrived on-screen, and the franchise is better for it. The special editions even replaced Revill's short scene with a redone version with McDiarmid. He is the Emperor, and his recast has been justified time and time again.
Donald Glover As Lando Calrissian
The performers of Solo have been unfairly used as scapegoats for the box office failure of Solo. In reality, a mixture of poor marketing and getting released amongst a wave of powerhouse blockbusters like Infinity War rather than in December as initially intended doomed the film.
Donald Glover was so utterly phenomenal in Solo that many fans viewed him as the perfect Lando Calrissian even over Billy Dee Williams. He so expertly and charismatically captures the energy of the character and is exactly what fans imagined him to be back in his younger days. If Glover never dons the many capes of Lando again, it would be a tragedy, especially if it were in favor of using CGI to put Billy Dee's face on a younger performer.
Ewan McGregor As Obi-Wan Kenobi
In the prequel trilogy, Ewan McGregor not only gives the best recast performance in Star Wars, but one of the franchise's best performances in general, which was an arduous task given that he would be following up Alec Guinness.
Alec Guinness tragically passed in 2000, but imagine if the technology was available back in the 90s and Guinness was de-aged rather than recast; pop culture would be without one of its best, most iconic, and most memed character portrayals ever. Ewan McGregor is proof that re-casted performers can make the role their own more than anyone else.
Alden Ehrenreich As Han Solo
Alden Ehrenreich was given the impossible task of portraying a young Han Solo in a movie that nobody really asked for, and that was, arguably, totally unnecessary. When it failed, it was his career that got affected more than anyone else, despite giving such a great performance.
What is great about Alden's portrayal is that he is not mimicking Harrison Ford. Instead, he captures the energy and overall feel of Han's character, keeping some key mannerisms and physical traits but putting a spin on the character overall. Ehrenreich is worthy of playing Han again in the future, and the idea of Harrison Ford's younger, computer-generated face being used rather than this terrific young actor who was thrown under the bus is ludicrous.