Woody Harrelson's casting as a "mentor figure" to Alden Erenreich's Han Solo was met with a lot of fan speculation. The character was not named upon Harrelson's casting, though many assumed him to be Garris Shrike, who was introduced as a smuggler and mentor to a young Solo in the Expanded Universe/ Star Wars Legends novel The Paradise Snare. During an interview on Jimmy Fallon, Harrelson confirmed that while his character is a mentor to Solo, his name is different than what was assumed. “Yeah, I play a guy named Beckett who is kind of a criminal and a mentor to Han […] I’ll be [filming] until the end of July.”
The alteration to the name isn't exactly a surprise; Lucasfilm has shown before that they are willing to cherry pick elements from the Expanded Universe while adding their own spin to it. Time will tell if the film will keep elements of Shrike's character or if it does away with the character entirely.
The untitled Han Solo film is set for release on May 25, 2018.
About The Author:
Matt is a graduate of the Ryerson University School of Journalism, and has been a fan of superheroes since he picked up his first comic book issue as a child. While he works as a professional musician, Matt has a massive passion for comic books, films and heroes, along with participating in discussion and debate with the CBM community.