It’s about six weeks before Solo: A Star Wars Story lightspeeds into theaters, and the first “official” trailer finally lands (following the previous Super Bowl teaser).
It does exactly what you’d expect, establishing the characters and story just a little bit more clearly than before (Woody Harrelson‘s Tobias Beckett appears to be the guy who turns a young cocksure and carefee Han Solo into an intergalactic cynic), but it also restrains itself from giving away the whole narrative arc, all while offering more morsels of action, banter, wit, and fun, plus teasing a greater sense of Alden Ehrenreich‘s take on the character that Harrison Ford made so iconic.
The fact that this trailer isn’t relying on any of John Williams‘ canonical music (save for a revamped main theme cue right at the very end), it shows just how much Lucasfilm is setting expectations for this to be, simply, a fun summer movie and not one to be judged alongside the more mythically complex standards of the main episodes (particularly since the previous “Star Wars Story” Rogue One tried to emulate that).
Lucasfilm’s message is clear: Solo is going to be a popcorn movie, full stop.” Let’s hope they and “official” director Ron Howard deliver.
Solo: A Star Wars Story opens on May 25, 2018.