Oh shit, here we go: Darth Vader has been spotted on the set of the Han Solo movie. It’s happening. Get ready for some herrrrrhphhhhhhhshooooo, ktchhhhhh Darth Vader breathing.
The Hashtag Show is reporting that Spencer Wilding, who played Vader in Rogue One, was shooting Han Solo reshoots as recently as two weeks ago.
Rumours of Wilding’s involvement in the still-untitled Han Solo origin film have been circulating for a couple of months, after he reportedly dropped out of a convention to film a role “in the newest film in the Star Wars universe.” Wilding denied his involvement, but you know how these things go.
The Han Solo film – which stars Alden Ehrenreich, Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke and Thandie Newton – has been dogged by rumours of conflict. In June, it lost both of its directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (citing “creative differences”), with Ron Howard coming in shortly after to save the day.
Not long after, a huge report came out that said Lord and Miller were dumped by Lucasfilm and Disney thanks to their improvisational style that didn’t mesh with filming a Star Wars universe blockbuster. Much of what they shot was “very unusable,” an insider told The Hollywood Reporter.
We don’t yet know in what capacity Darth Vader will be appearing in the Han Solo film. Rogue One proved the power of using Vader with a very light hand, making his two scenes some of the most memorable of the movie. It could be a cameo, it could be a full storyline.
We also don’t know if Vader was always going to appear in the film, or if this is a Howard-led move to appease the studio / fans and bring the film back into more familiar territory. Honestly, if someone wanted to make a Heart of Darkness-style doco about the making of this film, we would not be opposed.
