Star Wars Is Going To Show Leia and Han’s Wedding
If nothing else, this will finally answer the burning question that many nerds have had over the decades of fandom: did Han write his own vows?
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The universe of Star Wars is about to be expanded just a little bit more, this time by portraying the wedding of Leia Organa and Han Solo in an upcoming novel. While the relationship between two of the original protagonists has always been central to the influential space opera, it has also always been a little thin on details. The official Star Wars website has announced the new tie-in novel The Princess and the Scoundrel, written by Beth Revis. The now Disney-owned Lucasfilm is also offering a preview of the book as a thank you to all those romantic Star Wars fans for Valentine’s Day. If nothing else, this will finally answer the burning question that many nerds have had over the decades of fandom: did Han write his own vows?
This would actually not be the first portrayal of the Han/Leia wedding in Star Wars history. A similarly premised book called The Courtship of Princess Leia was written by Dave Wolverton in 1994, part of the wave of tie-in novels revived by Timothy Zahn’s Heir to the Empire in the early 1990s. It actually introduced several other concepts that would become an important part of Star Wars lore for the next several decades, including the Force-sensitive witch planet of Dathomir and the core tenet that Han and Leia actually got together. While the events of the original trilogy always hinted at it, it can be easy to forget the pre-Force Awakens demand of fandom to establish a consistent continuity in the drought years between trilogies.
Of course, all that continuity would be essentially abandoned when the Walt Disney Co acquired Lucasfilm in 2015. The previous decades of novels, comics and novelty disco records were relegated to “Legends” status, a controversial move against one of the most intricate pop culture canons in the world. The new trilogy of films that kicked off with The Force Awakens eventually confirmed Han and Leia’s relationship (and dissolution) as well as introducing their son, Kylo Ren/Ben Solo. The conclusion of that series of movies has left the large scope of Star Wars movies somewhat in limbo, but Disney has swiftly been occupying that void with an increasing array of Disney+ streaming shows. Although we did not feel the recent The Book of Boba Fett lived up to its potential, we’ve still got The Mandalorian as well as the upcoming Obi-Wan Kenobi and Ahsoka shows.
At the very least, new books like The Princess and the Scoundrel will continue filling out the now-mysterious official canon of Star Wars between the fall of the Galactic Empire and the rise of The New Order. While the recent trilogy somewhat overwhelmingly focused on ideas of loss, betrayal and the eventual failures of Han, Leia and Luke, a story like The Princess and the Scoundrel hopefully will bring some lightness and levity back into Star Wars. Also, given this will take place immediately after Return of the Jedi, we might even get some Ewoks. And although we may have seen the last of Max Rebo in The Book of Boba Fett, they’ll still need a wedding band, right?
