De iconische dobbelstenen uit A New Hope, The Last Jedi, en The Force Awakens deleted scenes gaan een opvallende rol spelen in Solo.

Solo easter eggs and references

The wait is finally over. Solo: A Star Wars Story is out in theatres, and it’s another worthy addition to the Star Wars saga. Where it shines brightest isn’t the story or characters, though – it’s the connections to the greater Star Wars universe. I always knew I’d be typing something up about the Solo easter eggs, but the sheer amount of connections was a pleasant surprise. Just like I did for Rogue One and The Last Jedi, I’ve listed everything I could find here. I’ve tried to include as few plot spoilers as possible, but if you haven’t seen the film yet, I’d still recommend coming back at a later date. With that said, let’s get into it!

Where: Corellia
Origin: A New Hope
Solo is our first introduction to Corellia on the big screen. However, the planet’s already got a rich history in the Star Wars universe. Since the early days of the franchise, Corellia is famed for both its Corellian Engineering Corps – which gets a shout-out as Han’s father’s old job – and plethora of legendary pilots. Ships like the Millennium Falcon, Ghost, Tantive IV – as well as a fleet of Star Destroyers and TIEs – call the planet their home. As do major characters like Han Solo, Qi’ra, Wedge Antilles, Boshek and Dengar. Time to pay Corellia a visit.

What: Han’s dice
Where: Everywhere Han goes
Origin: A New Hope
Han’s golden dice have existed since the original film, where they can be seen in the Falcon’s cockpit. After being left on the cutting room floor for The Force Awakens, they finally rose to prominence in The Last Jedi. In that film, they were used to remind Luke, Leia, and Kylo of their late friend, husband and father. In Solo, we’ll finally get to see why these dice mean so much to Han.

What: C-ROC Gozanti-class cruiser
Where: Corellia
Origin: Star Wars Rebels
The Ghost already made its appearance in Rogue One, so now there’s room for a new Rebels ship to appear in an anthology film. The C-ROC cruiser can be seen in the background amongst some other ships while Moloch is chasing Han and Qi’ra to the Corellia spaceport. Could Cikatro Vizago or Azmorigan have business on Corellia?

What: Crimson Dawn
Where: Corellia, Vandor, Savareen
Origin: Solo: A Star Wars Story
While the name Crimson Dawn hadn’t popped up until the Solo tie-in materials, I’m still counting it as a reference. The name takes some obvious cues from a different criminal organisation first introduced in Shadows of the Empire: The Black Sun.

Where: Carida
Origin: Dark Apprentice
When Han enlists in the Imperial navy to get off Corellia, he is sent to the academy on Carida. This mirrors his Legends origin, where he also trained there.

Where: Mimban
Origin: Splinter of the Mind’s Eye
If things had turned out differently, we might have seen Mimban in a Star Wars film some 40 years earlier. That’s because it was the primary setting for Splinter of the Mind’s Eye. This 1978 book was originally written to serve as a low budget film sequel to Star Wars. However, as we all know, Star Wars was a massive, massive success, and so George Lucas was able to up the budget and the stakes for Empire Strikes Back. Ironically, since Ford reappearing for a sequel was up in the air, Han Solo never set foot on Mimban in the book. This time around though, the planet provides Han with a lifechanging experience.

What: AV-21
Where: Back on Corellia
Origin: Star Wars Galaxies
When Han is trying to convince Beckett to let him join Beckett’s crew, one of his arguments is his experience boosting AV-21s back on Corellia. Those of you have played Star Wars Galaxies will know how impressive this feat is, as the AV-21 landspeeder was a very rare vehicle in this old MMORPG.

Where: Vandor
Origin: Jedi Apprentice
Just like Corellia and Mimban, Vandor isn’t an entirely new planet. Around the turn of the century, the Jedi Apprentice series of books released. In these, a young Obi-Wan Kenobi and his master Qui-Gon Jinn visited a number of planets, with Vandor-3 chief among them. The snowy planet we see in Solo is the nearby Vandor-1. In Legends continuity, these planets were part of the Coruscant system, but that’s not be the case this time around – Vandor is a frontier world.

Who: Bossk
Where: Vandor campfire
Origin: The Empire Strikes Back
While planning the train heist, Val suggests the crew would have been better off asking Bossk to help out rather than involving rookies like Han and Chewbacca. This terrible Trandoshan with the ill-fitting space spuit has consistently been portrayed throughout novels and Clone Wars as one of the most capable bounty hunters in the galaxy. Maybe things would have gone differently if Beckett had only listened to Val…

Who: Chewbacca’s family
Where: Vandor campfire
Origin: The Star Wars Holiday Special
When the crew is discussing what they’ll do with their share of the heist, Chewbacca shares his ultimate goal. He wants to search the galaxy to find his family, who were taken from him when they were enslaved by the Empire. They’re not called out by name, but obviously Chewie’s talking about his wife Malla and son Lumpawaroo.

Where: Glee Anselm
Origin: Attack of the Clones novelisatie
Glee Anselm is known for being the Nautolan homeworld, but it’s also a popular tourist site. It’s no wonder, then, that this planet is where Tobias Beckett is planning to retire to.

What: Valachord
Where: Vandor, Savareen
Origin: Aftermath
The valachord is a musical instrument described similarly to a keyboard. In Aftermath, it’s the instrument Snap Wexley grew up practicing with his dad Temmin. Here, playing the valachord is a goal Beckett’s set himself to pursue after retiring. Interestingly, according to the Official Guide, Val is named after the valachord, adding to the meaning it has to Beckett.

What: Mynocks
Waar: Ardennia barbecues
Origin: The Empire Strikes Back
During the cozy campfire chat on Vandor, Rio makes reference to the famed mynock roasts of Ardennia. Apparently, the annoying critters that stalked the organic exogorth cave in Empire make for a delicious snack.

What: Cloud-Riders
Where: Conveyex train heist
Origin: Star Wars 9: Showdown On a Wasteland World!
While our main characters are attempting to rob the Conveyex train on Vandor-1, competition is looming. Enfys Nest and her gang of Cloud-Riders show up to try and steal the coaxium fuel as well. The Cloud-Riders are a reference to the swoop gang of the same name, who terrorize the citizens of Aduba-3. Bonus reference: The Arrogantus-X Skyblade-221 swoop bikes they ride are a reference to Arrogantus-X, the leader of the Cloud-Riders in their original appearance.

What: Mandalorian armour
Where: Dryden Vos’ office
Origin: The Star Wars Holiday Special
It’s obvious that mob boss Dryden Vos is a collector. His office is filled to the brim with ancient weapons and stuffed aliens. His most prominent possession is a red samurai-styled piece of Mandalorian armour, as made famous by notorious bounty hunter Boba Fett.
What makes this armour extra relevant is the hint it provides as to the identity of Crimson Dawn’s true leader. This particular character notably had his own squadron of red Mandalorians to do his bidding… Combined with the Sith holocron in another display, we really should have seen this cameo coming.

What: Crystal skull
Where: Dryden’s office
Origin: Han Solo and the Lost Legacy
Another prominent fixture in Dryden’s office is this crystal skull. This is not a reference to that other Harrison Ford franchise, but rather to the cover of an old Legends novel. In Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, Han and Chewie are looking for the treasure of the ancient Xim the Despot. The book ends on a sour note for the pair though, as the treasure consists of outdated technological revelations rather than untold riches. It seems the treasure was very much real in canon though, as evidenced by the expensive looking skull.

Where: Scarif
Origin: Rogue One
Before the decision is made to steal unrefined coaxium from Kessel, some other potential targets are discussed. The Imperial vault on Scarif is one of the possibilities, but it’s shot down because it’s too heavily fortified. Considering what happens to the Rogue One crew, that was probably a wise decision.

What: Sabacc
Where: Vandor
Origin: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
The card game Han and Lando are playing will be familiar to a lot of fans. Sabacc happens to be the most infamous game in the universe and the favourite of many a gambler. Even out of universe, the game has a long history: The first draft of Empire claimed Han won the Falcon off of Lando in a game of ‘sabacca’.

What: VCX-100
Where: Vandor
Origin: Star Wars Rebels
To gamble for Lando’s Falcon, Han has to put up a ship of his own. Being the scoundrel he is, he has no qualms about lying, and so he claims to own a VCX-100 freighter. The two bond over the ship’s ingenious Corellian engineering, not knowing the role a VCX-100 called the Ghost would play in the Rebellion they would both lead one day.

Who: Aurra Sing
Where: At the bottom of a cliff
Origin: The Phantom Menace
Beckett’s reputation precedes him. When he meets Lando, the gambler recognizes him as the one who killed Aurra Sing, and thanks him for it. Aurra was a podrace spectator in The Phantom Menace and went on to make a number of appearances as a bounty hunting associate of both Boba Fett and Cad Bane. It doesn’t take long to guess why both Beckett and Lando would be glad to be rid of her.

Where: Felucia
Origin: Revenge of the Sith
Lando’s previous smuggling gig took him to Felucia. In Revenge of the Sith, this planet was the site of Jedi Master Aayla Secura’s death during Order 66. Early concepts for Episode VII also featured the planet, but it was eventually replaced with the new locale of Takodana. After that minor setback, it seems Felucia has wriggled its way into a second Star Wars movie after all.

Where: Oseon
Origin: Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon
Lando mentions having won a small moon in the Oseon system that ended up being nothing but a financial moneypit. This refers to the book Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, though ironically Lando ends that novel a richer man than before.

Who: Clint Howard
Where: Vandor cantina
Clint Howard has been in every single one of his brother Ron’s movies, and Solo is no exception. When we first meet L3, she gets into a kerfuffle with a mean man played by Clint. Interestingly, the droid wrangler is credited as Ralakili as a tribute to the classic rancor keeper, Malakili.

What: Dejarik
Where: TheMillennium Falcon
Origin: A New Hope
The holographic chess-like game of Dejarik is almost as iconic as the Falcon itself. In Solo, Beckett teaches Chewbacca how it’s played. However, it seems he has never heard of letting the Wookiee win. Chewie gets mad and smashes the board.
All the movies that take place later show the game played with eight creatures. This time around, we see all ten creatures that were originally designed for its appearance in A New Hope. Did Chewbacca’s rage take its toll on the gaming table?

Where: Kessel
Origin: A New Hope
In the very first film, Kessel is named twice. C-3PO mentions the planet’s spice mines as a terrible place to wind up in, and Han brags about his recordbreaking Kessel Run. 41 years later, we’re finally introduced to Kessel’s mines and the legendary run… that may or may not have been actually done in the 12 parsecs Han once claimed.

What: Jabba’s Palace Guard uniform
Where: Kessel
Origin: Return of the Jedi
As part of the crew’s plan to infiltrate Kessel, Beckett dons a disguise. The guard uniform he wears bears a striking resemblance to the guards in Jabba’s Palace. Years later, this very outfit would be used again by Lando to infiltrate Jabba’s court. That’s one Return of the Jedi mystery solved.

What: Pyke Syndicate
Where: Kessel
Origin: The Clone Wars
Clone Wars seems to be a wealth of inspiration for the current string of movies. And rightly so, considering George Lucas’ involvement in the show. Two years ago, Rogue One translated the charcter of Saw Gerrera to live-action. Now it’s the Pyke Syndicate’s turn. This criminal organization, led by an alien species also called Pykes, runs the show on Kessel. Quay Tolsite, the adminstrator who greets the crew of the Falcon, is our first look at Pykes in the flesh.

What: Teräs Käsi
Where: Kessel
Origin: Shadows of the Empire
When things on Kessel start to go bad, we found out that Qi’ra is well-trained in the art of Teräs Käsi. This ancient martial art was originally devised as a way for regular people to counter Jedi techniques. Appropriately, Snoke’s Praetorian Guards have also received extensive Teräs Käsi training.

Where: Sharu
Origin: Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu
While the rest of the crew is hard at work, Lando takes the time to record his autobiography. He gets started on an entry about his time on Sharu before his attention is drawn elsewhere. Do you want to know how the story goes? No worries, as you can read all about it in the 1983 novel Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu.

Who: Anthony Daniels
Where: Kessel
R2-D2 and C-3PO have appeared in every Star Wars film… Until now. Unfortunately there wasn’t any room in Solo’s script for the dynamic droid duo. However, that doesn’t mean we have to miss out on 3PO-actor Anthony Daniels’ voice. In the mines of Kessel, Chewbacca saves Sagwa, a fellow Wookiee, and his friends. Tak, one of Sagwa’s compatriots, speaks in a very familiar way. It’s a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo, but Daniels retains his unique status as the actor who’s been in every major Star Wars movie.

Who: Needles
Where: Racing speeders on Corellia
Origin: Back to the Future II
To shake the last TIE that’s chasing the Falcon, Han performs a daring stunt that he learned from his pal Needles back on Corellia. Needles seems obviously inspired by Douglas J Needles, Marty McFly’s rival from Back to the Future II. He goaded Marty into racing their cars by calling him chicken, which ended up ruining Marty’s life after he crashed his car.
Let’s be real, Han might be goaded just as easily.

Where: The Maw
Origin: Jedi Search
The concentrations of black holes near Kessel called the Maw, and the Si’klaata cluster it’s in, is something that’s taken straight from Legends continuity. First referenced in 1994’s Jedi Search, its remote and near-impossible to navigate status made it the perfect hiding spot for the Death Star’s construction. Of course, seeing as we can’t see any artificial moons in Solo, the Death Star is likely hovering over Geonosis or Scarif at this point.

Where: Savareen
Origin: West End Games’ Star Wars Adventure Journal 9
The most obscure of the planetary references in Solo, Savareen is a planet that was only ever referred to as the place to get Savareen brandy. The events that go down in this movie, however, ensure its place in galactic history from now on.
Of course, that doesn’t stop Beckett from asking the locals for some brandy.

What: Hutt Cartel
Where: Savareen
Origin: A New Hope
One of the oppressive criminal organizations Enfys Nest is fighting is the Hutt Cartel. The Hutts are a well-known criminal enterprise, with Jabba the Hutt as its most notable honcho. The big slug also gets an indirect reference of his own: The big shot gangster putting together a crew that Beckett is talking about is from Tatooine. Must be our favourite slimey slave owner, eh?

Who: Weazel
Where: Savareen
Origin: The Phantom Menace
Enfys Nest’s crew includes a couple of familiar faces, but her lieutenant is actually a character we’ve met before. Weazel, played by Warwick Davis in both The Phantom Menace and Solo, was a spectator at the Boonta Eve Podrace. Presumably his gambling ways on Tatooine put him at odds with the Hutts, as he’s now part of Enfys’ anti-criminal gang.

Who: Benthic Two-Tubes
Where: Savareen
Origin: Rogue One
Another member of Enfys’ crew is equally familiar. Saw Gerrera’s right-hand Tognath, Benthic Two-Tubes, apparently wasn’t always running with the Partisans. With appearances in Solo, Rogue One and the comic arc Ashes of Jedha, Benthic is racking up quite the history for a relatively minor background character.

What: Colo clawfish
Where: Dryden’s office
Origin: The Phantom Menace
One of the continually bigger fish that Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, and Jar-Jar encounter in the first prequel movie is the colo clawfish. It seems this particular specimen has indeed met its bigger fish, as Dryden offers Han and crew some clawfish as a light snack.

Who: Maul
Where: Hologram
Origin: The Phantom Menace
The climax of the film unveils (literally) the big shot gangster behind Crimson Dawn: Maul! This may come as a surprise to some, as he was bisected by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the end of his debut film. However, those who have seen Clone Wars and/or Rebels already knew the Zabrak supervillain survived this encounter. Even his status as the leader of a criminal organization is nothing new: In Clone Wars, we saw him rise to the top of the Black Sun, Pyke Syndicate, and Mandalorian Death Watch. There’s more story to be told about his time leading Crimson Dawn though, and I wonder if we’ll be getting it sooner rather than later.
Bonus references: He reveals his location as being the Zabrak/Nightsister homeworld of Dathomir, and the lightsaber he wields is the same one we see him use in Star Wars Rebels.

Where: Starcave Nebula
Origin: Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka
When Han goes to find Lando at the end of the movie, he finds the smuggler in a familiar situation: bragging. This time he’s boasting about having visited the Starcave Nebula. This refers to the Starcave of Thonbaka from the 1983 book of the same name, completing the references to the full Lando trilogy.

What: Galaxy’s Edge
Origin: Disney parks
Solo is so full of references that even the upcoming Disney World expansion isn’t left untouched. Both the collector Dok-Ondar (a guest on Dryden’s yacht) and Black Spire Station get shout-outs. You’ll be able to find out all about this Ithorian merchant and Batuu locale when they’re added to the new Galaxy’s Edge park expansion.

What: Indiana Jones
Where: In a museum
The crystal skull in Dryden’s study may not be an Indy reference, but there’s another item on that set that does pay homage to that other Lucasfilm property. Look closely and you’ll find the idol Indiana steals at the start of Raiders of the Lost Ark. Later, we hear one of Dryden’s guards’ names is Toht Ra, after the well-hatted creep from that same movie. What a bunch of facemeltingly cool easter eggs!

HURID-327, Milvayne Security, Rodians, and Twi’leks all return!

What: Recurring alien and droid designs
Where: Throughout the movie
Origin: Throughout the saga
One of the things that makes a Star Wars movie a Star Wars movie is the iconic alien and droid design. Over a thousand costumes were made for Solo, but to retain some continuity we also see some familiar faces throughout. Sorted by location:
Corellia: Twi’lek (Return of the Jedi), RA-7 “Death Star droid” (A New Hope), L-1 tactical droid (Rogue One), R2 astromech (A New Hope)
Mimban: 2-1B medical droid (Empire Strikes Back)
Vandor: Viper probe droid (Empire Strikes Back)
Dryden’s yacht: Twi’lek (Return of the Jedi), Decraniated (Rogue One)
Vandor cantina: Milvayne Authority cop (Rogue One), unknown horned alien species (The Last Jedi), a number of pimped up droids including a GNK-droid (A New Hope) with a circle blade.
Kessel: L-1 tactical droid (Rogue One), SN-1F4 sifter droid (The Force Awakens), white HURID (The Force Awakens), Wookiee (A New Hope), Gigoran (Rogue One).
Savareen: Rodian (A New Hope), Tognath (Rogue One).
Sabacc locatoin 2: Twi’lek (Return of the Jedi).

That concludes everything we’ve found so far. Have we missed anything? Please let us know in the comments or on social media!

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