Ron Howard Shuts Down Star Wars Sequel Rumor
Ron Howard has stated that Solo 2 is not a "priority" for Lucasfilm.
For those of you out there that are oddly hoping that the rumor Ron Howard was going to be working on Solo 2, your dreams have sadly been crushed. Howard revealed in an interview that Lucasfilm has no interest in continuing the story. According to Howard, “The only discussion that I’m aware of about a sequel for Solo is coming from the fans at this point…”I don’t think it’s a Lucasfilm priority, as I understand it.”
To be honest, Ron Howard might just be alluding to the fact that not many people were fans of Solo, let alone wanting to see Solo 2. Kathleen Kennedy had announced some months back that Lucasfilm would no longer recast a legacy character, as they had learned the hard way that fans are not wanting to see someone else in the shoes of an iconic actor like Harrison Ford. We did report that Kennedy is rumored to be exiting as president of Lucasfilm, so there could be some different opinions surrounding this fact once she is replaced.
Ron Howard was given a tall task when it came to stepping in for Solo, as the directing duo of Phil Lord and Christopher Miller left right before principal production had started. He did the best with what he was given, and the movie didn’t have the worst scores in the world when it came to reviews. It still holds a 69% critic rating and 64% audience rating on Rotten Tomatoes.
Despite the decent scores, Ron Howard has clearly stated that Solo 2 is not likely going to happen. However, we did mention the rumor surrounding Kathleen Kennedy being let go from Lucasfilm. That could be the catalyst that drives the bigwigs at Lucasfilm to do a little more experimentation with some prequel movies and shows.
The prequel Obi-Wan Kenobi series was quite fantastic, and it gave Star Wars fans plenty of hope for the future of going back in time and seeing iconic characters revisited. Granted, people were less enthused with seeing a young Han Solo in Ron Howard’s venture than seeing Ewan McGregor return to portray the younger Kenobi.
We would love to see if Ron Howard would approach Solo 2 by exploring more about Darth Maul. Maul’s story was expanded during the Clone Wars cartoon, and he made a surprise cameo in the Solo movie, meaning his story could play a crucial part in the potential sequel.
For anyone who has already seen the CGI animated shows, you know what becomes of Darth Maul, but that does not mean we can’t see him back in action for a longer duration in another live-action venture. Ron Howard could certainly explore the relationship between Darth Maul and Han Solo. Also, Maul did essentially take control of The Mandalorians, which could certainly be explored considering The Mandalorian is about the universe’s bravest warriors.
This is all just speculation and hoping for a story that is likely to never happen, as Ron Howard has already stated he believes Solo 2 to not be a priority at all. However, things can change and so can people, so we could be seeing a story put together in the future. For those holding onto hope, keep doing so.
