COMICSANDS
percolately
georgetakei
secondnexus
george's picks
Remember Solo: A Star Wars Story? If not, you aren't the only one.
Star Wars fans and not alike missed this telling of the youth of Han Solo, starring Alden Ehrenreich as the titular scruffy-looking nerf-herder along with Emilia Clarke in a new role.
The movie hit theaters in 2018 to an extremely lukewarm reception. But one person who did not have a lukewarm reception for it was Thandiwe Newton whose character Val received a rather unceremonious death.
“I remembered at the time thinking, ‘This is a big, big mistake,'" Thandiwe Newton said of her character's death in… https://t.co/pcdZWwc7de— The Hollywood Reporter (@The Hollywood Reporter) 1629997372.0
@THR @l1sh29 Her character’s death was so out of pocket tbh. 🤔— service is Universal (@service is Universal) 1629998594.0
@poshbeard @THR Right?!?! I was so bummed as she was the character/actor whose story I was most excited to see! May… https://t.co/HSuQz4tWjq— Lilibet Diana & Archie Harrison 💖 (@Lilibet Diana & Archie Harrison 💖) 1630000166.0
The tragic yt boys in the comments only further prove how toxic Star Wars fanboys are 😒 Star Wars has always used B… https://t.co/c29uOFoVTi— Ty Allen (@Ty Allen) 1630038437.0
The scene killed me.she and Donald were the best thing abt the movie. https://t.co/GtmbR1N0wJ— tory's restraining order (@tory's restraining order) 1630021239.0
Newton said she thought it was a completely tone deaf mistake by the movie to kill her character off.
"You don't kill off the first Black woman to ever have a real role in a Star Wars movie," she said in an interview with Inverse. "Like, are you f**king joking?"
Newton later said the decision to kill Val was made after she'd signed onto the project and was made hastily.
"....Actually, in the script, she wasn't killed. It happened during filming. And it was much more just to do with the time we had to do the scenes."
Agreed as she was a highlight in that film! https://t.co/h38mGzyWid— 24Play21 (@24Play21) 1630004450.0
Man I can't wait for everyone to weaponize her perfectly legitimate grievance to continue pushing their narrative l… https://t.co/1euubwbrzK— Mason Harris (@Mason Harris) 1629999083.0
It was! Beyond stupid. https://t.co/q8CcSgUAlN— Papi. (@Papi.) 1629997799.0
https://t.co/Tkd8hNyWs5 https://t.co/AD9Pg2ntNj— Jerry Chen ❤️🎞 (@Jerry Chen ❤️🎞) 1629997657.0
Originally, the character's fate was supposed to be interpretive, with no clear indicators she'd died.
"But when we came to filming, as far as I was concerned and was aware, when it came to filming that scene, it was too huge a set-piece to create, so they just had me blow up and I'm done."
But even then, Newton knew the movie was making a big mistake.
@KingKyberrr @DiscussingFilm gonna use this video for people saying she shouldn't make it about race, she did not,… https://t.co/y812fZc4Hs— kira 🏳️🌈 (@kira 🏳️🌈) 1629969266.0
@DiscussingFilm Thandiwe Newton, John Boyega, Kelly Marie Tran, Daisy Ridley & Adam Driver all deserved a proper St… https://t.co/G8c1DtOmvp— Josh ❤️ Free Guy & What If...? #BlackLivesMatter (@Josh ❤️ Free Guy & What If...? #BlackLivesMatter) 1629927407.0
she has every reason to be angry https://t.co/Wq1REXlC3i— esdee ²ᴰ¹ᴺ | HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA 8/28 (@esdee ²ᴰ¹ᴺ | HOMETOWN CHA CHA CHA 8/28) 1630020979.0
Oh my god wtf And she was so cool too wtf??? https://t.co/U4lCbljWrN— lore ⌖ hunter’s gf (@lore ⌖ hunter’s gf) 1630009136.0
“Too big a set piece” is such a weak excuse. It’s really not that hard to not kill a character. I love Solo but her… https://t.co/0IiND58vmi— Shaley (she/her) (@Shaley (she/her)) 1629990707.0
The Star Wars franchise has quite a few new things on its plate, including new series and new films all coming out within the next few years.
Hopefully production teams hail Newton's words and future projects are handled more thoughtfully.