'Solo' Star Wars Canon Theory: Are the Range Troopers Imperial Clones?

Unlike previous Star Wars movies, almost everyone in Solo: A Star Wars Story, is, on some level, a bad guy. Because this movie is populated with space criminals, the black-and-white morals of most Star Wars is absent. Still, the evil Empire will make an appearance, with yet another variant of Stormtrooper called “Range Troopers.” But because of the timeline, are these Range Troopers actually clones of Jango Fett?

Solo takes place about a decade before the events of A New Hope, which means the Empire is only about nine years into its reign, following the end of the Republic in Revenge of the Sith. And in order for all that to have happened, Emperor Palpatine needed an army of Stormtroopers to take out all the Jedi and keep everyone in line. At some point after the prequels, all Stormtroopers become recruits, not clones, but that means there was a time of overlap; where Clone Troopers were serving side-by-side with “regular” Stormtroopers. So, like the Death Troopers from Rogue One, the new Range Troopers occupy a weird spot in the Star Wars timeline.

So, what’s up with the Range Troopers? In the latest Solo trailer, we see these guys on an anti-gravity train, squaring off against Han. A new description of the troopers, attached to a Target press release describing a bunch of the new toys from Solo, describes them like this: “The Imperial expansion requires the settlement of vital operations on remote outpost worlds. These frontier Stormtroopers form a backbone of stubborn defense against would-be thieves and pirates.”

The Range Troopers are specifcally designed to repel piracy, which is pretty much the definition of what Han, Chewie and Lando do for a living. But, the more interesting part of this description is “The Imperial expansion” bit. This implies that the Empire is in the process of spreading out beyond the planets that were governed by the Republic. Where would the Empire get the extra muscle necessary to do such a thing? Answer: CLONES!

If the Range Troopers are clones, it’s really unlikely that would be revealed in Solo. The movie has so much ground — and space — to cover that it’s doubtful the plot will get in the weeds to describe who these guys are under their helmets. Unless of course there was a reason to do just that.

Some rumors persist that Boba Fett will make an appearance in Solo, which, if turns out not to be true, will be a crime. Boba Fett’s, of course, is a clone, too. Like all the Clone Troopers, he’s cloned from Jango Fett. So, if the Range Troopers are clones of Jango Fett, and Boba Fett is in the movie, then Solo could suddenly become one big happy family clone reunion. - Solo: A Star Wars Story is out everywhere on May 25.