‘Solo’ Spoilers: C-3PO Cameos In Star Wars Story, Plus 3 Ways It Could Work
by Ryan BrittThe only actor who is in every single Star Wars movie, up until this point, is Anthony Daniels. The veteran actor has played C-3PO across the entire saga, and now, according to Mark Hamill, he’ll be in Solo: A Star Wars Story, too. But, if this is true, how could C-3PO be in this movie? Doesn’t the idea of the famous protocol droid meeting Han, Chewie or Lando early contradict everything? Not necessarily. Here are three ways a C-3PO cameo in Solo could totally work without messing up Star Wars canon in the slightest.
Last week, on the Washington Post podcast, Cape Up, Mark Hamill spilled what some might consider is a huge spoiler, but Hamill thought was sort of a given a certain droid might show up. Here’s what he said:
“Daniels was so happy, ‘cause he’s in every single Star Wars movie,” Hamill explained. “Every single one. All the prequels, he’s in Rogue One, he’s in Solo. Whoops!…but anyway, he’s in every single Star Wars movie. That’s not such a reveal – all Star Wars fans expect him to be in every movie.”
This news started spreading on Monday, and now fans are wondering how this is going to work. Here’s our best guesses.
Hey look, it's me C-3PO. I'm right here. Please. Somebody talk to me.
3. C-3PO and Han Don’t Meet
The most likely way for C-3PO to appear in Solo is in a quick cameo at some point, one that doesn’t impact the plot of the movie. One way this could work would be similar to R2-D2 and C-3PO’s cameo in Rogue One: they can simply just be standing in a scene somewhere, with little to no explanation.
Erase this fool's memory, NOW! (C-3PO in 'Revenge of the Sith' right before Jimmy Smits erased his memory.)
2. C-3PO Has His Memory Erased, AGAIN
In Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, it was established that Bail Organa erased C-3PO’s memory after the massive events following the rise of the Empire. This explains why C-3PO doesn’t remember anything about Anakin Skywalker or the details of the Clone Wars. It doesn’t however, totally explain why Obi-Wan Kenobi doesn’t recognize him or R2-D2 in A New Hope, unless of course, Obi-Wan was just pretending.
Han Solo telling C-3PO to shut up in 'The Empire Strikes Back'
1. Neither C-3PO or Han Remember Each Other
The easiest explanation might be the most likely. Maybe C-3PO and Han simply don’t have enough of a relationship in Solo to make a lasting impression on each other. We know Han is fairly irritated by droids in A New Hope, so maybe he just has face blindness for a certain kind of robot. Plus, because C-3PO is a little stuck-up about people like Han Solo, it’s possible he also put the smuggler out of his mind.
In any case, there countless ways for C-3PO to figure into this narrative. We assume that after Revenge of the Sith, C-3PO was simply in the service of Bail Organa, and, by extension, the Rebel Alliance. So, if we do see him in Solo, the bigger question is, will we see people from the Rebel Alliance? - Solo: A Star Wars Story is out everywhere on May 25. It debuts at the Cannes Film Festival on May 10.
