There’s no way of getting around it: Solo: A Star Wars Story has, in no way, been the box office success that Disney and Lucasfilm were expecting it to be.
After initial opening weekend predictions were adjusted down time and again, ticket sales took an even further steep fall in the second week of release, plummeting over 60% in total gross from opening weekend.
Critic responses to the movie have been lukewarm at best, with reviews only praising certain performances including Donald Glover, Woody Harrelson, and occasionally leading man Alden Ehrenreich.
However, the middling reviews have mostly focused on finding faults with the story line and the film’s overall necessity in the rapidly expanding Disney/Lucasfilm canon.
Whether it was Star Wars fatigue that did it, or perhaps the flurry of behind the scenes drama that preceded the movie’s release, the fact remains that Solo was never truly given a fair shot at the box office.
Some have speculated that reshoots likely prevented the usual advertising budget being used for such a blockbuster movie event, while others pointed to a general audience dissatisfaction with casting and the turnover among creatives.
However, regardless of all the rumors and messes that have followed Solo on its journey from soundstage to big screen, the movie is by far one of the most entertaining journeys the Star Wars saga has produced. Full of humor, fun, and heart, Solo is packed to the brim with laughs– and where there is laughter, there will always be memes.
Here are 20 Hilarious Han Solo Memes Star Wars Fans Need To See.
The beginning of a beautiful friendship
Something tells us that the events of Solo – and the Star Wars franchise as a whole, really – would have gone a whole lot differently had Han and Lando been given one of these hilarious “get along shirts.”
The entirety of their relationship, from the moment they meet to the last time we see them interact on screen and beyond to the world of the Expanded Universe, relies upon the fact that it is highly volatile and prone to change at the drop of a hand of sabacc cards.
Han and Lando are fundamentally similar in all the ways that lead to the best kind of dramatic tension between characters – two total type A’s who rely upon their charms and wits to get through life… until they meet each other.
At times in Solo, and in isolated moments during Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, you really do get the sense that these two could be great friends, if they ever got over their respective egos.
While forcing them to spend time together may not be the best way to go about achieving that, it surely would be hilarious – exactly like this meme, which portrays them as two little kids in desperate need of getting along.
Animated series fans, this one’s for you
Before the Star Wars saga relaunched itself on the big screen in 2015 after a ten year absence, animated series had been airing on television in the interim.
Most notable of all these series was the 2008 to 2014 series Star Wars: The Clone Wars, chronicling the events between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith and developing characters like Anakin, Obi-Wan, and Padmé more than the frequently maligned prequels were able to.
This series, as well as the Star Wars: Rebels animated series that would follow in its lead, were also known for getting pretty bold with their adaptations of and changes to their source material.
However, perhaps the boldest change these series would make was the reveal that Darth Maul had been saved after the Duel of the Fates in The Phantom Menace.
So for six years now, Darth Maul has been considered a revived character within the Star Wars canon, and his rivalry with Obi-Wan provided a central conflict for the Clone Wars series.
However, to any casual viewer, who didn’t seek out additional content once they left the movie theatre, the brief cameo by the Zabrak Sith in Solo certainly came as quite the shock – as was intended.
For the knowledgeable fan, however, it was merely a reaffirmation that they had chosen correctly in investing their time in the animated franchises, as with Rogue One’s use of Saw Gerrera from the Clone Wars series.
The unexpected star of the film is…
In a movie full of characters who were shrouded in secrecy, no character truly had less known about them beforehand than the enigmatic, masked Enfys Nest.
Marketed as the villain of the story for much of the promotional period, Enfys was such a mystery that not even the actor behind the mask was credited with the role until the film’s release.
So when it was revealed that Enfys Nest was a teenage girl – and could very well have been the beginning of the Rebel Alliance that would define Star Wars’ original trilogy – the shockwaves sent out through social media regarding her character were immense.
Fans have tweeted far and wide about wanting to know more of her story, or about even wanting Enfys Nest: A Star Wars Story in the years to come. For a movie with such a tepid response, it really does say something that this character – meant to be a secondary, if not tertiary one – has struck a chord with fans all around the world.
Before the movie’s release, fans were already excited about the prospect of a female villain. While Solo certainly delivered in that regard – there’s no denying that Qi’ra’s fall from grace leads to a villainous fate – it’s the culmination and reveal of Enfys’s shocking narrative that leaves the largest impact and shows where the franchise should go next.
Context really can be everything sometimes
It was a moment that fans everywhere were hoping the movie would provide: the mythic moment in which legendary best friends and partners in crime Han Solo and Chewbacca would finally meet for the very first time. And boy, did Solo deliver.
While it was likely not in a way that people expected, Solo offered fans a glimpse of how Han and Chewbacca first met as Han was thrown by the Empire into a torture pit in which Chewbacca was referred to as a beast, likely intended to finish Han off as punishment for attempted desertion.
However, through Han’s wiles, Chewie’s strength, and their mutual quickly built trust in one another, they were able to break free from their dire situation and earn themselves a passage to freedom aboard Beckett’s ship.
Where things really took a turn for the weird – and bordering on TMI – was when the subsequent scene revealed Han and Chewie bathing together to rid themselves of the mud and slop from the torture pit.
It’s not exactly how most shower scenes between two individuals go in Hollywood – but hey, it’s Star Wars. When have they ever done what people expect? Thanks to their willingness to be weird, we can all now officially say we’ve seen a Wookiee shower with a human.
Rio knows a real party when he sees one
Star Wars has a real knack for creating compelling characters who are ultimately sidelined much too soon. Solo has a few of these characters to claim ownership of, but in the case of the Ardennian pilot Rio Durant, they not only lose out on an adorable little sidekick, but also on one of the movie’s greatest sources of humor.
The glorified space monkey is a truly unique voice in the franchise, witty without being overly sarcastic, genuinely knowledgeable about other species and behaviors, and willing to share a personal anecdote whenever the opportunity presents itself.
So when he’s not totally interested in pursuing a haul of coaxium, such as this meme suggests, that’s just in keeping with his own distinctive voice and code.
In the end, for Rio, nothing is better than a mynock feast back on his home planet of Ardennia. He’s a simple little space monkey, easy to please, but also willing to take the risks that some of his team members may not be.
His heroism and bravery get Beckett’s team further along the way during their heist than they would have been without him – and even though he doesn’t make it out to the other side, his short arc certainly leaves its mark.
Han’s always been a quick thinker, hasn’t he?
You have to give Han some real credit: he really is quick on his toes when he finds himself in less than desirable situations.
Solo is filled with plenty of little moments of humor that come out of nowhere, and perhaps the earliest such moment in the movie is when – faced with a real threat in the form of the odious Lady Proxima – Han reveals what he claims to be a thermal detonator – but is, in fact, merely a rock.
The choice to use a rock, aided by clicking sound effects he makes with his mouth, as a bargaining chip and threat is not an idea that would come to the average person with any real speed.
However, what Han may lack in Force skills or political prowess, he more than makes up for in street smarts, having spent his formative years on the mean streets of Corellia.
So while he may get himself into more trouble than the average youngster in the galaxy, there’s no denying that he may be one of the best equipped to get himself out of a real pickle – and you can count on him to always stick by his intuitions and opinions as he does so, too.
Stupid? Brilliant? You be the judge
It’s not just the fact that Han is able to think of this ridiculous move so quickly that makes it such an impressive – albeit idiotic – feat, however. It’s his commitment to the bit, and his refusal to acknowledge when he’s been caught in a charade, that makes his street smart skills truly impressive.
Han’s stubbornness has been a prominent characteristic of his character for as long as he’s existed.
Set in his ways and prone to arguing, the Han we know later in the series is much more jaded and bitter, quick to fire back with a wry quip.
While the Han we meet in Solo is much younger and more optimistic, this is a first glimpse at the thick-headed individual he will grow up to become.
However, with stubbornness comes resilience and, in certain cases, unexpected brilliance. Just because Han may not be good with a lightsaber or be able to control things with his mind, that doesn’t mean that he isn’t a reliable asset to have on your side.
Give him a blaster, an eternally devoted Wookiee sidekick, and a trusty old ship uploaded with a one of a kind interface, and you’ve got yourselves the making of a truly iconic hero.
The Calrissian Chronicles: how and why?
As we’ve already stated, Solo is a movie that fully enjoys having fun, taking countless moments to offer scenarios that are just outright hilarious when the plot has slowed down even for a brief second.
One of the funniest – and arguably one of the most random – moments finds Lando Calrissian sitting by himself in the Falcon and recording The Calrissian Chronicles – his own life story in the form of a holo message.
What exactly becomes of these holos, however, is unclear – and so, fan speculation has predictably gone out of control.
Just what exactly does Lando do with these holos? Is he writing a book? Is he sharing these on some sort of galactic internet? Is he a space YouTuber? Is this a podcast?
Does he have followers? Does he even do anything with these, or are they just for his own amusement and L3’s irritation? Does anyone else know that he records them? How long has he been recording them? What made him start recording himself and sharing his stories in this way?
So many questions to answer, and so little resolution on any of them – as the moment, fleeting and hilarious though it may be, truly offers nothing to the story.
Qui-Gon deserved better than this
Qui-Gon Jinn truly did not meet his untimely fate for this.
Going into Solo: A Star Wars Story, fans could rely on certain rules within the galaxy far, far away, including the fact that Darth Maul had perished in the battle at the end of Episode I, The Phantom Menace, never to beard from again – unless you watched any of the animated series.
The animated series notwithstanding, though, it was easy enough to pretend that these things never happened, and all that was canon to the saga was all that had happened on screen in the movies.
However, Solo changes everything, canonizing parts of the animated series that now weaken and cheapen the profound emotional effects of the already shaky prequels in many ways.
Qui-Gon Jinn, the former beneficent master to Obi-Wan and the man who takes pity upon and shows kindness to Anakin Skywalker, is truly responsible in many ways for the launch of the events that cause the Skywalker saga to unfold.
However, while he is never able to see what has happened, nor is he able to help in any way, Darth Maul lives on, despite all the pain he caused and the life he took away.
Fake it til you make it, right?
The Han Solo that has become an iconic, genre-defying, career-making character was often portrayed as a jaded scoundrel, a man who trusted no one and only fell in love despite himself. He is the pinnacle of all things cool. All boys dreamed of being Han, and all girls wished they could have a Han of their own.
However, as Solo reveals, Han wasn’t always the master of composure and charm.
Sure, he knew his way around a lie or two, and he had no problem being passionate with those close to him, but he was also kind-hearted, soft around the edges, and willing to trust people far more than he should have been.
Han is burned many times over the course of the movie – whether by Beckett, by Qi’ra, or by Lando – and one can only wonder what subsequent Solo movies will reveal about the deterioration of his willingness to trust others, should those Solo sequels ever get made.
Beckett himself is the first person to tell Han that he shouldn’t be so willing to trust people, since they’re often out for their own gain above all else.
If only Han had learned from his quasi mentor’s advice, he may have found life sailing a lot more smoothly for him from that moment onward.
Star Wars fans vs. Disney: the saga really does continue
The in-fighting within the Star Wars fandom has reached fever pitch within the past year. It was already a growing issue when Disney acquired Lucasfilm, a divisive move in the business world in addition to the world of fandom.
However now that Disney has released four Star Wars movies, and with no end in sight, it’s clear that certain fans feel as though they are being taken advantage of by the corporate machine set upon profiting off Star Wars as much as possible.
Sure, it may be true that these anthology movies aren’t really all that necessary. Do we actually need to know what happened to Han Solo a handful of years before we first meet him? Did the plot hole of the weak spot in the Death Star actually bother anyone so greatly that an entire movie was needed to establish how the Rebel Alliance received the Death Star plans?
These are all things that could have easily been covered in other media: books, comics, short form web content. However, Disney decided to make them movies, and as such, sought to profit on these untold stories, as is their right.
However, at the end of the day, regardless of how you feel about the corporate side of the Disney/Lucasfilm world, it’s important to focus on what these movies are now providing: entertainment.
We’re lucky enough to have new Star Wars movies annually, and just because one film may not be your cup of tea, don’t worry: another movie will show up soon enough that will be.
Has naptime ever sounded so good?
It’s a throwaway line in a frantic moment in the movie: as Beckett and his crew debate whether to bring Han and Chewbacca on board, the ever witty and adorable Rio remarks that you’ll never have a better sleep than when you’re curled up in a Wookiee’s lap.
It’s hard to imagine that this has ever been something most Star Wars fans have thought about – adorable and fluffy as he may be, after all, Chewie is quite the strong, occasionally violent warrior.
However, it’s partially Rio’s winning endorsement of a snuggly – and strong, useful, resourceful, et cetera – Wookiee that enables the unlikely new duo of best friends to join Beckett, Val, and Rio in their pursuit of coaxium.
Although Han is still determined to get back to Corellia to find Qi’ra at this point, we can’t help but wonder if he ever got a little distracted by cuddling with a Wookiee and napping, too.
Hey, after all, they’ve already showered together. What’s a little naptime snuggle between best pals when you’ve already gotten to know each other on such an intimate level?
Rio started this, not us. After all this, we bet you can’t help but wonder now, too.
Pronunciation changes everything
Han and Lando have always been portrayed as frenemies more than anything else, as they are too focused on their own interests and gains to ever truly be considered the best of friends, no matter their endless similarities.
As a result of their adversarial relationship, it’s only natural that they find themselves trying to one up each other whenever they can.
In one of the clearest displays of resentment and disinterest all at once, Lando – both in Solo and in the original trilogy – deliberately pronounces Han’s name wrong each and every time, as this fanart meme by Tumblr-based Star Wars artist illustratable perfectly displays.
In Solo, Han even takes the time to correct Lando’s mispronunciation from the moment they meet, but Lando clearly doesn’t care in the slightest.
Thanks to Donald Glover’s deliberate decision to reproduce Billy Dee Williams’ own unique pronunciation of the name, we now have all reason to believe that Lando never, ever says Han’s name correctly.
Over a decade passes between Solo and Lando’s arrival in Empire Strikes Back, and by the time ESB rolls around, Lando is still mispronouncing Han’s name exactly the same way.
If that doesn’t perfectly encapsulate the inherent tension within their relationship at all times, we don’t know what else does.
Can’t read Han’s sabacc face
Lying seems to be a crucial part of a smuggler’s life. Whether it has to do with lying about deals that have gone south, or lying to save your own skin, smugglers seem to have to get themselves out of some real binds more often than not – even in the company of other smugglers.
Sure, Han Solo may not exactly be the full-fledged legendary smuggler we know him to be in the original trilogy when we meet him in Solo, but the movie really shows him coming into his own within the world, managing to – in effect – smuggle himself out of the Imperial service and into the company of Beckett’s gang of thieves.
However, he truly shows his capability as a gifted liar when he enters the scene of the sabacc tournament opposite the likewise gifted Lando Calrissian.
While Lando cheats with cards, Han cheats with his words – proving that the two are more than capable of meeting each other’s bluffs in more ways than one.
So when Han lies his way through a sabacc game, in an attempt to win the Millennium Falcon, and loses… well, it’s clear that this won’t be the last time something like this happens between the two of them.
They’re both too good at lying for it to never happen again.
Simplicity was never a smuggler’s strong suit
As we previously mentioned, the overall narrative pacing and plot choices made over the course of Solo have been some of the most widely criticized aspects of the movie.
The pacing does tend to vary wildly, with jumps of logic and time going hand in hand to make sense of just how long this crew of unlikely thieves has been working together on their elaborate space heist.
However, even nested within the overall narrative inconsistency there lies a real problem with the logic of the plot – and in one of the movie’s most crucial moments, to top it all off.
The reveal that Beckett has betrayed Han and Qi’ra in their deal with Dryden Vos regarding the coaxium is played as a moment of real emotional shock, even though it has always been known that Beckett thinks of Beckett first.
However, following this reveal, things become incredibly confusing – and this meme illustrates exactly why.
Even if Han was the best reader of people in the whole of the galaxy, there is no way that he could have possibly known this elaborate plot would have gone off without a hitch.
Yet, through the magic of space and Hollywood, it somehow does.
The hilarious poetry of Star Wars
George Lucas is famous for observing that the overarching structure of the Star Wars saga as a whole (at least the six movies he was responsible for) is poetic.
Through parallel plot structures and characters, as well as the simplest things such as recurring imagery and motifs, the series as a whole rhymes against itself in different time periods and places.
Solo has a little bit of cheeky fun with the idea of being poetic cinema, as this meme wryly points out. The exchange of “I love you” and “I know” has encapsulated the Han Solo and Leia Organa relationship for decades, leaving fans the world over swooning and rooting for their epic galactic romance.
However, in Solo, a markedly similar – and yet, so very different – exchange has a little bit of tongue in cheek fun with the audience, creating a new poetic rhyme structure as a result of it.
In a case of rhyming with an event that has yet to transpire, a humorous moment finds likely adversaries and reluctant partners Han Solo and Lando Calrissian staring at the wreckage of the formerly pristine Millennium Falcon.
When Lando, rightfully, tells Han “I hate you,” all Han can broodingly sigh is “I know.”
For some fans, that’s pretty much a guarantee of romantic subtext right then and there.
However, for the general audience as a whole, it’s a cute moment that winks and lets fans know that the movie is having fun with itself, too.
The real truth about Solo: A Star Wars Story
Solo has proven to be divisive among fans – the fanbase that was already divided in the wake of The Last Jedi, and the fanbase that had already been fractured by the release of The Force Awakens three years ago.
Some fans have absolutely loved it, claiming that it was a true return to form for a franchise they felt had lost its way. Others loved it, but because they got something out of it that they weren’t expecting, or because it made them see Han in a new light.
However, plenty of fans hated it, deriding it as useless, wandering, self-indulgent, and filled to the brim with nothing but fan service brought to life on the big screen.
You know what? Maybe it is two and a half hours of fan service, but in a world where Star Wars is criticized for being both too bold and not bold enough, it’s hard to find something that will please all fans.
What Lucasfsilm and the movie’s cast and creatives managed to do with Solo, however, was something that the previous three Disney films struggled with: they created a movie that was truly fun from start to finish.
The Force Awakens, Rogue One, and The Last Jedi were all bogged down in many ways with intense emotions and complicated lineage stories.
However, Solo was completely self-contained. It was a new kind of Star Wars movie that we should be eager to see again.
How many times are we going to go over this?
It’s a pattern that has exhausted fans everywhere as it rears its ugly head with each subsequent casting announcement: certain Star Wars fans on the internet, both within fandom and within the media as well, seem entirely hellbent on the need for Rey’s parentage to be explored more fully within the movies – and for each casting of a white, brunette actress to hold the key to unraveling her story.
When Felicity Jones was cast in Rogue One, certain reaches of the internet were entirely convinced of the fact that she would go on to become Rey’s mother – and possibly even Luke Skywalker’s wife, at that – despite the overall unlikelihood that any of the core characters of Rogue One would make it out alive. Lo and behold, they didn’t.
Once Emilia Clarke was cast for Solo, the speculation began again, this time with fans wondering if she could have secretly had a child with Han at some point – totally ignoring the fact that Rey is only 19 in the sequel trilogy, and thus eliminating this as any remote possibility in the timeline.
Some have even wondered whether Maul and Qi’ra could be Rey’s parents, ignoring the fact that Maul is a Zabrak and Rey would have horns.
All of this, of course, contradicts entirely what the franchise – and Rey herself – have already told us: her parents were nobody. It’s time to stop expecting anything else.
Han vs. the Zabrak Qi’ra told him not to worry about
You had to know this meme was coming, right?
The distracted/cheating boyfriend meme was all the rage on social media earlier this year, with people finding practically every use imaginable for the awkward set of stock photos. So it was only a matter of time before someone seized the perfect opportunity that Solo’s soapy storyline provides and made a meme of it all.
Han spends much of Solo as a lovesick puppy wishing he could get back to the girl he left behind in Corellia all those years ago, Qi’ra. However, without his realizing it, Qi’ra has moved on.
Gone is the girl who thought he was the best thing in all of the worlds. Not only has she moved on, but she’s seemingly set her sights on a much higher goal – being second in command to the domineering and demonic Darth Maul.
When given the chance to choose between a life with Han and leading the crime syndicate Crimson Dawn under Maul’s command, she doesn’t even appear to think twice.
If Star Wars has taught us anything, it’s that you’d have to be a damn fool to let Han Solo slip through your fingers like that.
However, in the end, who really cares when Qi’ra’s bad life choices helped make Han and Leia’s epic romance a possibility?
Expectation vs. reality: Solo edition
Going into Solo, people really had no idea what to expect. Some people called it a good old western movie, but set in space. Others thought of it as a heist movie. Certain reviewers called it utterly pointless.
Above all else, it seemed a daunting task to have new young actors attempt to fill the shoes of legendary Hollywood icons such as Harrison Ford and Billy Dee Williams.
As this meme suggests, it was almost as though fans were preparing for a fan made production, or little kids playing dress up to act like the big boys of the world. However, as is so often the case, expectation was hardly what reality turned out to be.
Solo proved to be a thrilling, swashbuckling adventure filled with rebellious youth fighting against the man, a droid class-based uprising, references to the prequels, an unlikely humanoid-droid romance, countless daredevil stunts, prolonged scenes of gambling and battles of the mind, so much Lando charm you could hardly believe it, and so many other things that this meme doesn’t even begin to address.
In short, Solo turned out to be a whole lot more than what expectations led audiences to believe – for better, and for worse.
Which Solo: A Star Wars Story memes are your favorites? Let us know in the comments!
