海角大神

"Star Wars" fans know Han Solo is a smuggler, a scruffy-looking nerf herder, and possibly a nice guy, but other than that, little has been known about the roguish Han鈥檚 past before he popped up in 鈥淪tar Wars: A New Hope鈥� and shot alien Greedo (first, obviously).聽

Now fans will learn a lot more about Han with a forthcoming movie from Disney that will focus on the character鈥檚 early days.

Chris Miller and Phil Lord, who co-created the MTV animated series 鈥淐lone High鈥� and are probably best known for co-directing and co-writing the 2014 animated smash hit 鈥淭he Lego Movie,鈥� will co-direct this movie about Han. The film will be written by Lawrence Kasdan, who co-wrote what is often called the best 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� film of all time, 鈥淪tar Wars: Episode V The Empire Strikes Back,鈥� and Jon Kasdan, who wrote the screenplay for the 2007 film 鈥淚n the Land of Women鈥� and the 2012 film 鈥淭he First Time鈥� and also directed the two films.聽

Other spin-off films being planned for the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� universe include 鈥淩ogue One,鈥� which is set to be released in 2016 and stars Felicity Jones of 鈥淭he Theory of Everything.鈥� 鈥淩ogue鈥� is being directed by Gareth Edwards of the 2014 film 鈥淕odzilla鈥� and rumors recently swirled that iconic 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� villain Darth Vader may be a player in 鈥淩ogue.鈥�

Creating these spin-off films reflects a larger Hollywood trend of focusing on a certain character when creating a new movie rather than making a straight sequel. But the strategy behind the 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� franchise currently seems to include both of the methods being used by the fellow successful franchises of Marvel and 鈥淗arry Potter.鈥�

鈥淗arry鈥� is moving backward in time, with a new movie, 鈥淔antastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,鈥� focusing on an all-new character (magical creatures expert Newt Scamander) who had his heyday long before Harry was even born. Meanwhile, the Marvel films have continually moved forward, with most of these new movies taking place in our present day. The franchise briefly looked backward for the youth of superhero Captain America, who came of age during World War II, but other than that, Marvel has stayed away from prequels.

The 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� series, meanwhile, is moving in all directions. One can assume the new film 鈥淪tar Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens鈥� takes place after 鈥淪tar Wars: Episode VI Return of the Jedi,鈥� both from its numeral title and also from the fact that actors Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher are all returning and presumably aren鈥檛 being altered to look younger.

But the film series is also looking backwards with this new Han Solo movie and possibly 鈥淩ogue One,鈥� which could take place before the film 鈥淪tar Wars: A New Hope.鈥� Marvel has already proven that once audiences get invested in a fictional universe, they will turn out for just about any movie that's part of that franchise. Now Disney will discover if that proves true for 鈥淪tar Wars鈥� as well.