Three Planets Confirmed For Solo

This AMC article confirms three planets fans will see in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story.

CORELLIA
First up is Han Solo’s homeworld, Corellia. This is one of the galaxy’s prosperous Core Worlds, and one where there’s always been a massive divide between rich and poor. It’s one of the Empire’s most important shipyards, and Corellians are among the galaxy’s best pilots. Set photos have suggested that’s because Corellia’s poor make their living competing as pod-racers. Han is one of them. It looks as though the Empire watches pod-racing carefully, looking to recruit the best racers as future TIE pilots.

But how much is Solo actually going to lift from the old Expanded Universe? It’s possible Corellia will be subtly different from the system depicted in books. In the Corellian Trilogy, writer Roger MacBride revealed that the system was actually artificially created. The most important part of the star system is Centerpoint Station, a massive space station that may be one of the oldest artifacts in the galaxy. Centerpoint was actually used to create the entire system, drawing worlds into place.

It’s unclear how much of Solo will be set in Corellia, but certainly that’s where Han’s story will begin. There are strong rumors that the film will begin with Han as a pod-racer who catches the Empire’s eye and is drafted. Naturally, the life of an Imperial is unlikely to suit everyone’s favorite scoundrel.


MIMBAM
The planet Mimban is something of a deep cut for Star Wars fans. It’s a fairly remote swamp-world, and was mentioned in the Clone Wars animated series. But Mimban is best known for appearing in Alan Dean Foster’s novel Splinter of the Mind’s Eye, published back in 1978. Mimban was the site of an Imperial mining system, and the legendary Kaiburr Crystal was found in an ancient temple hidden within the Mimban jungle.

LEGO playsets for Solo have revealed the “Mimban Stormtroopers,” Stormtroopers wearing armor designed for the planet’s inhospitable swamp-and-jungle terrain. Clearly Solo will be heading to Mimban, although it’s unclear what role the planet will play in the film. It’s possible Han will actually be stationed there during his time with the Empire; it’s also possible that he’ll visit Mimban after leaving the Empire, given that the world had a thriving black market – ideal for a neophyte smuggler.

Ironically, concept art revealed that Mimban almost appeared in Rogue One as the base of Saw Gerrera’s Partisans; Lucasfilm instead chose to create a new world, Jedha. Replacement director Ron Howard has teased that there’ll be some sort of tie between Solo and the Death Star plot, as one image he released on social media featured helmets associated with Death Star staff. It’s possible he’ll be honoring this original idea, with the Empire mining on Mimban for Kyber Crystals to power the Death Star superlaser.


KESSEL
In September 2017 Solo director Ron Howard teased that the film would feature the planet Kessel. Fans have long hoped that would be the case. Han, after all, had so often bragged that the Millennium Falcon “made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs.”

Kessel was first explored by writer Kevin J. Anderson in his Jedi Academy Trilogy, and it was introduced as an important world in the spice trade. A harsh, inhospitable world, Kessel is one of the few sources of the addictive drug known as spice. Kessel spice is actually an organic web, woven by a race of deadly spiders. Spice mining is a dangerous profession, and Star Wars: Rebels has revealed that the Empire sent slaves to Kessel to carry out the mining. Significantly, the slaves included Wookiees.

Ron Howard’s tweet showed what was clearly a mine, and the color of the rock is right for Kessel. Howard’s simple comment – “Spicey?” – definitely reinforces the sense that this is the planet Kessel.
It’s likely that Kessel will be an important world in Solo. After all, when Han left the Empire, he ultimately becomes a spice smuggler working for Jabba the Hutt. That shady career path will almost certainly take him to Kessel.

Meanwhile, it’s likely the film will feature the famous Kessel run. The most intriguing possibility, though, is that Kessel could be the world where Han meets Chewbacca. As the Original Trilogy made clear, Chewie has a “life debt” to the wandering smuggler. Fans have always believed that’s because Han rescued him from slavery; given Kessel has Wookiee slaves, it’s certainly possible Chewie was a slave on Kessel.

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