The ironclad security surrounding the new Star Wars films is well known. It is expected (and not unreasonably so) that larger plot elements be revealed in the cinema, rather than online months before. The smaller hints however can give fans a flavour of what to expect. We have a couple of these for you today with a snippet of info about the forthcoming Han Solo Star Wars Story, as well as locations for future saga films.

In the interview with NBC‘s Jimmy Fallon, primarily to talk about his new film Wilson, Woody Harrelson told us the name of his character in the film, and confirmed where he fits into the main story.

“I play a guy named Beckett, who is kind of a criminal and I am a mentor to Han.”

It’s not much but he confirmed the ‘mentor to Han’ element to his character, and that with the name comes a scouring of all the existing Star Wars info for clues. The fact is there aren’t really any. Beckett is a new character, and that’s probably for the best. The Lucasfilm story group have been shrewd when it comes to the use of the jettisoned Expanded Universe, and this gives them more freedom to explore strange new worlds (hang on, wrong franchise…).

Here’s the interview.

Woody Harrelson on the Han Solo Star Wars film

 

There is another report out about some of the familiar horizons we’ll be revisiting in the next two Star Wars saga films. Episodes VIII and XI will apparently have moments sets on three planets we’ve seen before. One of the locations is the first planet we see, another is one of the most recent. The third is, well – it’s a controversial one.

They are…

Mustafar

Star Wars Episode VIII Mustafar
Night Out at Darths?

Tatooine

Star Wars Episode VIII Tatooine
Scum? Villainy? You’ve come to the right place!

Endor

Star Wars Ewok
Remember me?

There is a very in-depth bout of well researched speculation from the team over at Star Wars News Net (who originated this rumour) about which central figure and what thematic elements link these three planets. It is well worth a read if you’re so inclined. They sensibly posit that these locations may only appear in the ‘Forcebacks’ we saw introduced in The Force Awakens.

We are less than three weeks away from the 2017 Star Wars Celebration event in Orlando, where we are expecting to get our first look at Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII: The Last Jedi. Yes, we’re excited. Dare we hope for Ewoks?