Solo Trailer Foreshadows Han's Betrayal by Lando Calrissian

With Solo: A Star Wars Story, fans of the franchise take a deep look into the origins of Han Solo (Alden Ehrenreich) as he turns from aspiring space pilot to smuggler extraordinaire. Of course, this stems from his adventures with Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) and the Wookiee that will eventually become his lifelong friend, Chewbacca.

But as director Ron Howard is set to show, all these relationships he'll be establishing come after everyone has been recruited by the master thief, Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), for a few good old galactic heists.

In the latest action-packed trailer, we get a bigger glimpse of Tobias, not just as the crew's leader, but as Han's mentor -- he even gifts the rogue his iconic blaster. He warns Han that once you're in this criminal lifestyle "you're in this life for good," while also educating him on the topic of trust. It's here that Tobias' words foreshadow one of the biggest moments in Star Wars history: Han's betrayal at the hands of Lando in 1980's The Empire Strikes Back.

Around the 1:25 mark, the trailer shows Han's posse attempting to hijack a train, while fighting off Enfys Fest and her Cloud Riders, as well as the Empire's Snowtroopers. At this point, Tobias' ominous words regarding who Han should trust in his lifetime resonate in a big way. "Let me give you some advice. Assume everyone will betray you and you will never be disappointed," he says to Han, with his cautionary statement juxtaposed against their own crew: Emilia Clarke's Qi'ra descending the Millennium Falcon, Lando firing his blaster, and Thandie Newton's Val in the heat of battle, perhaps implying they may well have their own Judas in the ranks. Ironically, the trailer then cuts to Han saying that he's got a "really good feeling about this," hinting at the young, brash pilot's naiveté in his early days.

That ironic retort aside, diehard fans know Tobias' words end up falling on deaf ears, because in The Empire Strikes Back, Lando sells Han out to Darth Vader in Cloud City. In that film, Han (then played by Harrison Ford) led Princess Leia's (Carrie Fisher) party to Lando's home for refuge while Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) trained with Master Yoda on Dagobah. However, Darth Vader got wind of this and tracked the rebels there, and just when Han thought that Lando (Billy Dee Williams) was going to help them escape, his former partner-in-crime set them up and turned them over to the Sith Lord.

This was part of a secret deal Lando brokered for Cloud City to live (somewhat) independently under the Empire's rule. Vader was planning to use Leia's capture to smoke Luke out, and as for Han, well, he was frozen in carbonite and handed off to Boba Fett, who was going to redeem the bounty placed by Jabba the Hutt. Lando later realized the error of his ways and helped rescue his friend in 1983's Return of the Jedi but his initial betrayal really was a stinger to take in and showed how selfish these rogues could be.

Hopefully in Solo Han doesn't endure similar issues, but given Tobias' words, a couple things are possible. Either Tobias ends up tricking his protege, thus teaching Han the bitter lesson in person. Or Han takes his words to heart and pulls a fast one on his mentor, showing Tobias that maybe the student is well on his way to becoming the master after all. Well, temporarily at least.

Directed by Ron Howard from a script by Lawrence and Jon Kasdan, 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 L3-37, Paul Bettany as Dryden Vos and Woody Harrelson as Tobias Beckett. The film opens May 25.

CBR

Solo Trailer Foreshadows That Major Twist in Han & Lando's Relationship