Han Shot First? Here's Where The Kasdans Stand

[Skylights]

For the first two decades of Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope's existence, there was no question that when Greedo cornered Han Solo at the Mos Eisley Cantina, Han ended the encounter by blasting Greedo before the Rodian bounty hunter could get a shot off. Then came A New Hope's 1997 Special Edition re-release, where the scene was edited to show Greedo making one awfully-aimed shot before Han Solo killed him. Later cuts of A New Hope have kept in Greedo pulling the trigger first, but there's still a large portion of the Star Wars fanbase who still prefer the original version of the scene, with Han shooting first. We can count Solo: A Star Wars Storywriters Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan among this group, and the father/son duo even included a scene in the upcoming Star Wars spinoff that hammers this home. As the Kasdans explained:

Jonathan Kasdan: It couldn't have been more deliberate.

Lawrence Kasdan: Yeah. It was very important to me, like top of the list.

Jonathan Kasdan: To both of us. We are firmly in the camp. In the script, the description literally says, 'There can be no doubt Han shot first.'

Until the day comes that Disney and Lucasfilm decide/are able to release the original version of A New Hope, Greedo missing the inches-away Han Solo before Han blasts him under the table is the canon version of this event. But that doesn't mean that the Kasdans needed to toss away the idea that Han Solo wouldn't hesitate to take out an enemy, and while they didn't provide any details about this particular scene in Solo: A Star Wars Story to Uproxx, it sounds like "Han shot first" supporters will be pleased with it. Granted, Alden Ehrenreich's Han is far from developing into the man that negotiated with Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in that packed cantina (and even further away from becoming a Rebellion hero), but he still has some notable characteristics embedded deep within even at this stage of his life, so it will be interesting what this prior example of Han shooting first looks like.

Taking place approximately a decade before A New Hope, Solo: A Star Wars Storyfollows Han Solo as he's trying to make a name for himself in the galaxy far, far away's criminal underworld. Along the way, he'll cross paths with familiar faces (to us, anyway) like Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian, and new characters like Qi'ra, Tobias Beckett, L3-37, Val and Dryden Vos. This younger Han may not be quite as experienced or as notorious among his fellow lawbreakers, but from what we've seen in the Solo previews, he still shouldn't be underestimated.

Solo: A Star Wars Story blasts its way into theaters this Friday, May 25. Don't forget to also browse through our 2018 release schedule to learn what other movies will be released later this year.