Kathleen Kennedy’s comments on the recasting of Han Solo reveal that Disney still fundamentally misunderstands Star Wars – and this could be fatal to the franchise going forward. 2018’s Solo: A Star Wars Story saw Alden Ehrenreich take on the role that propelled Harrison Ford to intergalactic stardom, with the movie exploring Solo’s life before the character’s debut in Star Wars: A New Hope. However, despite featuring one of the most popular characters in Star Wars history, the movie significantly underperformed both critically and commercially, representing Disney’s first serious misfire since its acquisition of Lucasfilm in 2012.
In a recent interview with Vanity Fair, Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy describes the film’s failure as a “learning moment” for the company – with Alden Ehrenreich’s turn as Han Solo chiefly to blame for its disappointing reception. Highlighting the decision to recast the iconic rogue as a severe error, Kennedy states that it is now “abundantly clear” that future entries shouldn’t recast beloved Star Wars characters. Instead, the franchise should switch its focus to entirely new characters, building on the likes of Pedro Pascal’s Din Djarin and Diego Luna’s Cassian Andor. However, Kennedy’s comments do not show a company carefully learning from its past mistakes; on the contrary, they reveal a business that continues to misunderstand the core appeal of Star Wars and risks continuing to undermine the overall integrity of the franchise.
Crucially, Solo did not fail because it tried to replace Harrison Ford. Rather, it failed because Disney had no clear vision of the story it wanted the movie to tell. This was apparent even before the film hit cinemas, with a chaotic production process that saw original directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie) removed from the project midway through shooting. Their replacement by the far more conventional Ron Howard represented a complete tonal 180 for the film, showcasing a studio scrambling to determine who and what the movie was for. This lack of purpose can ultimately be traced back to Solo’s perfunctory and lackluster script, which left the film facing irrelevance from the outset. Even with Harrison Ford in the starring role, Solo would always have underwhelmed – and Disney must learn this lesson if it is to maintain audiences’ faith in Star Wars.
Indeed, The Book of Boba Fett presents another cautionary tale for Disney as the company tries to build on George Lucas’s legacy. Although the show saw the return of Star Wars veteran Temuera Morrison, this dose of authenticity wasn’t enough to overcome the series’ disjointed and directionless plot. While the surprise returns of Din Djarin, Grogu, and Luke Skywalker ultimately salvaged an otherwise disappointing series, Disney cannot rely on cameos alone to keep the Star Wars flame alive – and it quickly needs to find the kind of long-term narrative vision that helped Lucas build one of the most popular franchises of all time.
Given Kathleen Kennedy’s comments on the failure of Solo: A Star Wars Story, it is not clear that the Lucasfilm boss is the person to recapture Star Wars’ narrative spark. Not only are her comments unfair to Alden Ehrenreich, but they also reveal a fundamental misunderstanding of why the movie underperformed. Without addressing the fundamental issues with its storytelling, it is unclear how Star Wars can thrive going forward – and Baby Yoda can only bail out the franchise so many times.
