Harrison Ford’s Most Brutal Insult for Han Solo Before ‘The Force Awakens’ Return Would’ve Pinched George Lucas Hard

SUMMARY

• Harrison Ford returned to the role of Han Solo under J.J. Abrams in The Force Awakens.
• Although he has no ill will towards the role, he did deem Solo a one-dimensional character.
• Ford's issues with Star Wars and Han Solo have been greatly exaggerated.

While Harrison Ford has headlined many acclaimed releases on both the big and small screen to this date, for many, his career is mostly defined by Star Wars and Indiana Jones. Given how rich his filmography has been, it’s safe to say that being linked to one specific franchise would be frustrating for any actor, and the actor hasn’t shied away from dishing out playful jabs at the IP.

Harrison Ford as Han Solo | Credit: Lucasfilm

Although most of his apparent issues with Star Wars seemingly boil down to its cultural impact, which has often taken the spotlight away from Ford’s other works, he did have one specific issue with his character.

Han Solo isn’t Harrison Ford’s brightest gig

Han Solo in the Star Wars | Credit: Lucasfilm

Despite Han Solo’s stature in the beloved franchise, Harrison Ford isn’t really a big fan of his persona. Considering Solo refused to learn from his mistakes on several occasions, without Harrison Ford’s charm, the character might not have been such a hit, as he lacked nuance. Speaking of Han Solo’s one-dimensional characteristics, before returning to the franchise in 2015, the Indiana Jones star deemed Solo (via EW), “He’s dumb as a stump”, and added that he’s much less interesting than his other iconic gig.

He’s got a good heart, but I think he’s certainly a much less interesting character than Indiana Jones. He was the foil between the other more compelling elements of the film, between the sage old warrior and the young hero. There’s not much breadth of character to explore beyond what we got out of him.

However, it doesn’t seem Ford’s criticisms are coming from a place of detest towards the IP, but quite the contrary, as it further highlights that past his playful jabs at the character, he deeply cares about Solo.

Harrison Ford’s issues with Han Solo have been blown out of proportion

Star Wars: The Force Awakens | Credit: Walt Disney Pictures

Even though Ford has been quite vocal about his frustrations of being always linked to Han Solo, which is reasonable as most actors don’t prefer to go by just one role, it appears that his detest against Solo is greatly exaggerated. Not only Ford was ecstatic to return as Han Solo in The Force Awakens under J.J. Abrams, but he also clarified that the narrative surrounding his stance against Han Solo was blown out of proportion.

Elaborating on it, Ford explained (via Rolling Stone) that he didn’t outgrow the role, and his comments about wanting Solo dead had to do with fans’ investment in the character.

I don’t think I, no … I didn’t say I outgrew it. What I said was I thought we ought to kill him. And that was because I didn’t have the imagination to recognize the potential in the future for the character. I was only going to do three of them; I wanted to use the character to supply some bass notes, some gravitas that I thought would be a useful — an emotional utility for the audience’s investment.

But the revered actor has certainly played around with this sentiment, which is not pretty on point for Han Solo.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is available to stream on Disney Plus.

Written by Santanu Roy

Articles Published: 2001

Santanu Roy is a film enthusiast with a deep love for the medium of animation while also being obsessed with The Everly Brothers, Billy Joel, and The Platters. Having expertise in everything related to Batman, Santanu spends most of his time watching and learning films, with Martin Scorsese and Park Chan-wook being his personal favorites. Apart from pursuing a degree in animation, he also possesses a deep fondness for narrative-driven games and is currently a writer at Fandomwire with over 1500 articles.