WARNING: The following article contains major spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story, in theaters now.


Star Wars has been more than just the movies since before A New Hope even hit theaters. Through novels, comics, video games and more, the universe has been growing and evolving since 1976, with all the non-movie tales that added to the lore eventually grouped under the heading Expanded Universe, or EU. In the dark times after Return of the Jedi, when there was no Star Wars on the big screen for 16 years, the EU became fans’ only source for new stories. By the mid-1990s, the novels, comics, cartoons, video games and RPGs had each become top sellers in their industries. George Lucas even orchestrated a huge multi-media project titled Shadows of the Empire that included novels, a comic series, a soundtrack, a video game, toys and even trading cards in 1996. It was on the scale of a movie release without any actual film.

By the time Disney bought Lucasfilm in the Fall of 2012, the EU had filled in large chunks of Star Wars continuity. From the beginning of the Jedi Order thousands of years before A New Hope to the adventures of Luke Skywalker’s great-grandson, Cade Skywalker. So, to free up the screenwriters behind the planned new wave of films, the studio made the major decision to convert the EU to non-canon and retitle it Legends. This enraged fans who had invested a great deal of time and money into these characters. What nobody realized then was that Disney apparently always planned to pull from Legends -- it just didn’t want fans to know what to expect.

Which brings us to Solo: A Star Wars Story. The filmmakers behind only the second Star Wars standalone film are clearly Legends fans, as they've included a bunch of awesome and obscure elements from the novels, comics and even video games! Below we break down the intriguing characters and details from Legends that are now canon... again.

The Cloud-Riders

This swoop bike gang originates in the Star Wars comics put out by Marvel in the 1970s. Writer Roy Thomas (Avengers) and artists Howard Chaykin (American Flagg!) and Tom Palmer (Avengers) debuted the Cloud-Riders in Star Wars #9 (1977). In the issue Han Solo and Chewbacca are in desperate need of funds and take a job “on a hellhole called Aduba-3.” They are hired to protect a village from a Serji-X and his vicious swoop-riding scavengers. In Solo this gang is led by Enfys Nest and while it appears they are scavengers, the twist is that they are actually defenders and freedom fighters.

Solo co-writer Lawrence Kasdan has stated that when the former directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord told him they were going to use swoop bikes, he dug out the Cloud-Riders to fill the role of his marauders in the script.

The Maelstrom

In Legends, The Maelstrom is a nebula in the Outer Rim. It was introduced in the RPG book Riders of the Maelstrom in 1989. The area is distinct because a vast cloud of space dust makes it glow green. Now, in Solo when Lando is explaining why getting to Kessel isn’t so simple, he says, “Can’t plot a direct course to Kessel. You have to thread through the Si’Klaata Cluster and then, pass through the Maelstrom.” So, while we don’t learn much about the area other than that it is part of the Kessel Run, its inclusion does make another section of the galactic map from Legends canon.

Page 2: [valnet-url-page page=2 paginated=0 text='The%20Maw%2C%20Garris%20Shrike%20and%20Tag%20%26%20Pink']

The Maw

This is another section of space that is quite unique. Originating in the 1994 novel Jedi Search by Kevin J. Anderson (Navigators of Dune), The Maw was a cluster of black holes near Kessel. The gravitational pull of this cosmic aberration is so extreme that it was slowly pulling in the whole Kessel system. In Solo, The Maw is a gravity well that is part of the Kessel Run. As Han and crew are trying to leave the mining planet they are almost pulled into this anomaly. However, a drop of Coaxium hyperfuel gives them the boost they need to escape.

Garris Shrike

While this character doesn’t show up by name in Solo, two characters are assigned keys aspects of his story. Shrike made his first appearance in A.C. Crispin’s novel The Paradise Snare (1997), which was the first book in The Han Solo Trilogy. This series documented Han’s early years, during which he was part of a gang of young street thieves led by the adult Shrike. This criminal was a father figure to Han, but was also highly abusive. If it isn’t apparent yet, both crime boss Lady Proxima (and her band of orphans) and Han’s mentor Tobias Beckett from Solo are partially adapted from Shrike. There isn't a depiction of this villain in any medium, so the picture above is from the cover of the book he debuted in.

Han the Imperial

In Legends continuity, Han always dreamed of being a pilot in the Imperial Navy as a youth. After escaping Garris Shrike’s firm grip, the young Solo eventually finds his way to Corusant and is accepted into the Imperial Academy. He graduates with honors and is given the rank of lieutenant. However, his time with the Empire doesn’t last long. He stuns a commanding officer to save an unarmed Wookiee, who is of course Chewbacca. When he is dishonorably discharged, he returns to smuggling with Chewbacca as his partner. This all happens in A.C. Crispin's The Han Solo Trilogy. In the film, it transpires quite differently, but the important story beats are there: Han enlists, he saves Chewie, he leaves the Empire.

Tag and Bink

Adventures of Star Wars' Tag and Bink

While we haven't spotted this duo in the film yet, we're pretty sure they are in there. Director Ron Howard posted a pic to Twitter of Solo co-writer Jon Kasdan and assistant director Toby Hefferman dressed as Imperial Officers with the caption “#tagandbink?” Shortly after Kasdan confirmed that he and Hefferman would be playing the comic characters. Tag and Bink were the stars of a fourissue comic published by Dark Horse between 2001-2006 that tells the tale of how this Rebel twosome were present during every major event in all six movies (at the time). It’s worth noting that these fan-favorites were never truly canon, so their inclusion here gives them quite the promotion.

Page 3: [valnet-url-page page=3 paginated=0 text='The%20AV-21%2C%20Ter%E4s%20K%E4si%20and%20Savareen']

AV-21 Landspeeder

In Solo, Han brags about flying Av-21s back on Corellia to try to convince Beckett and company that he is a worthy addition to their crew. This type of landspeeder is pulled from the Star Wars Galaxies Trading Card Game. This online game was the follow up to the popular Star Wars Galaxies MMORPG. The AV-21s can match the speed of the fastest swoop bikes and are almost completely hand-crafted. The speeder is extremely hard to obtain in the game.

Teräs Käsi

This martial art is already canon…sort of. It is mentioned as one of the fighting styles employed by Snoke’s Praetorian Guard in The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary. It also featured in the canonical Star Wars: Uprising mobile game that was released in 2015. However, Solo is the movie debut of Teräs Käsi. We see both Qi’ra and Drayden Vos use it to kill opponents. In Legends continuity, this deadly fighting system was introduced in Steve Perry’s Shadows of the Empire (1996) novel. However, it entered public awareness when it was spotlighted in the 1997 PlayStation video game Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi. Since then the hand-to-hand combat techniques have been featured in more than half a dozen Legends books.

Savareen

While there were some pretty obscure and random Legends Easter eggs in Solo, this has got to be one of the most unheard of planets in the Star Wars galaxy. The world’s first and only appearance is in a short story titled Easy Credits in Star Wars Adventure Journal #9 (1996). In this tale we learn that the planet exports a fine brandy. The Adventure Journal line was an anthology series published as source material for the Star Wars: The Roleplaying Game.

Savareen doesn’t have an entry in the Star Wars: The Essential Atlas, but it does show up in the book’s appendix of planets with the coordinates Q-16. However, that reference book is now considered Legends. On the other hand, it does show up on the map featured in The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary. It is shown to be in the general vicinity of Geonosis and Tatooine. It was some serious fan service Beckett inquires about the brandy when they landed on the desert planet toward the end of the movie.


Directed by Ron Howard, Solo: A Star Wars Story stars Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke as Qi’ra and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. They’re joined by Thandie Newton as Val, Phoebe Waller-Bridge as L3-37, Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett. The film is playing in theaters nationwide.