We’ll never really know if it was the money or a mind-trick that convinced Han Solo to ferry Luke, Obi-Wan, and the droids to Alderaan, and the riddle of the actor who played Solo for three movies is equally unclear. Fittingly, or jarringly, Harrison Ford’s relationship with Star Wars is exactly like his character; always picking “Should I Stay our Should I Go,” by the Clash as his karaoke song with one boot out the door. Ford almost wasn’t in The Empire Strikes Back and wanted Han to die in Return of the Jedi. And now that he’s in Episode VII, flippant rumors are circulating that he’s the co-lead, along with two of the younger actors.
But none of this should come as any surprise, because Han Solo has always been the lead of the classic Star Wars films.
But wait! Isn’t Luke Skywalker the main character of Star Wars? And isn’t the entire saga—including the prequels—the story of the Skywalker family? Well, yes, on paper, that’s true. But they don’t have have paper in Star Wars anyway and a Skywalker-centric story is part of a retroactive way we’ve all come to view the saga. It’s fairly well-documented that Lucas started using this sort of language to redefine the story only at the point at which he was writing the prequels, and previously, in a eureka moment when he randomly decided Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker’s father while writing The Empire Strikes Back. These components are certainly part of what make Star Wars the Star Wars we know today, but really—and this truth might hurt—no one would like Star Wars without Han Solo, and I don’t even need to use the prequels as proof.
If Princess Leia is the person who embodies the ideals of the Star Wars conflicts (i.e. she IS the Rebellion) and Luke Skywalker is the outsider getting caught up in those ideals that already jive jibe with his personality, then Han Solo is the person who is literally questioning why any of it is important at all. When he says “I ain’t in this for your revolution, and I ain’t in it for you princess, I expect to be well paid. I’m in it for the money!” he could be metaphysically speaking for someone other than the character. Star Wars is populated by psychological archetypes anyway (Obi-Wan is the worrying conscience of story, Darth Vader is that existential fear of becoming an amoral jerk personified.) so it’s not too much of a stretch to take Han’s statement about self-preservation and apply it to the real world context the movie lives within as well as the story that the character of Han lives within. So why do we connect with the story of Star Wars and how does Han help us do that?
I think Han is speaking for a larger, sort of jaded, constantly underwhelmed audience. Because if you’re watching Star Wars for the first time, he’s the reality check on “hokey religions and ancient weapons.” For a good many of us who love fantasy already, Star Wars is already great—it has lightsabers, space travel, and magic—but Han’s skepticism widens the scope of the audience beyond that. A fantasy audience generally wants to be unquestioning, because it likes this kind of story, but a more general audience needs to be convinced and the presence of Han inside of this narrative allows Star Wars to be both fantasy and pop at the same time. Because he’s an outsider and iconoclast inside of a universe in which he exists, he replicates the experience of how a lot of people are confronted with art; they feel like it’s not for them and have to be convinced otherwise. When art can bridge audiences like this and blend genres, it generally means it ceases to be a genre and becomes pop culture and both Han Solo and Harrison Ford embody this duality.
In the first 20 minutes of The Empire Strikes Back, you see Han Solo’s face more than you see Luke Skywalker’s. Throughout the rest of the film, equal time is divided among Luke’s journey and what’s going on with Han and Princess Leia. The obvious argument for the equal face-time is that it is the middle chapter of Star Wars and we’re dealing with an ensemble, and while that’s also kind of true, it feels like Han is the one making the most interesting decisions. Again, why are you watching this movie? Is it because you’re interested in seeing what happens to a whiny twenty-something who is trying to find himself? Or are you really into this wise-cracking, more-intelligent-than-he-lets-on guy, who might just have to clean up his act before shit hits the fan?
I’ve written before (with Emmet Asher-Perrin!) about how Han Solo is the most realistic person in Star Wars, and I stand by that. Han has debt. Han has a crappy past. He has cool and not-so-cool friends. The self-esteem of Luke and Leia is on full display in all three films, and guess what? It’s healthy. Han Solo, in contrast has something almost every character in Star Wars lacks: confidence issues. Because if you think someone who flies their spaceship into an asteroid field on purpose or runs at bunch of bad guys “certainly has courage,” then you’re missing what it means to be a person. Han Solo is courageous not because he’s cool, but instead because he’s screwed-up. And so am I and so are you. The other characters know this, which is why the entire opening of Return of the Jedi is spent rescuing Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt.
Han Solo is the audience, sitting there MST3K-ing the events in the movie as they are happening. “I’m out of it for a little while and everybody gets delusions of grandeur!” At this point in Return of the Jedi, Han is basically saying, “Every single person in this movie is insane, can you believe all these people?” In part, this embedded criticism of Star Wars is what makes the whole of Star Wars easier to deal with for non-fantasy/sci-fi fans, but less reductively, and more accurately, it just makes it all more fun. If the secret main character of Star Wars doesn’t take things too seriously, or questions why any of this is happening, we buy it more.
We love rogues and renegades who boast they don’t give a shit about anyone because in a piece of fiction, we can smell the irony on that statement a parsec or twelve away. The only reason to have a supposedly aloof character in your story is to have them overcome their apathy in a way that makes them more than ordinary, and instead, something spectacular. We all relate to the moment when Luke stares off into the suns setting and dreams of his super-amazing life, to the point where we can almost see a cartoon thought bubble forming over him, in which he rescues princesses and saves the day. But this sort of wish-fulfillment is rare in real life, and, in the aggregate, less relatable. Unlike Luke or Leia (or Anakin?) Han doesn’t have to live up to his potential to achieve a greater destiny, and no one is expecting him to, which is exactly what anyone trying to do anything cool grapples with.
So, everyone’s heard the axiom about “greatness” and I guess I’d like to amend that. Some are born great, some have greatness thrust upon them, and some, maybe the rest of us, are Han Solo. And that’s why he has been and should be the lead in Star Wars.
Ryan Britt is a critic, essayist and fiction writer living in New York City and is longtime contributor to Tor.com.
Totally agree!
I can’t express how happy I am that we never saw Li’l Han in the prequels. Having said that, a character like Han was what those movies were most desperately missing. (Well, amongst their other deficiencies.)
While Han certainly doesn’t have to live up to this potential as you say, I would still say he does by the time Return of the Jedi comes around and he’s leading the attack vital to winning the battle above. The story isn’t about him fulfilling that destiny like it is for Luke, but the nice thing is he still does step up and do it. And maybe that’s another reason he’s so appealing.
Luke Skywalker is the outsider getting caught up in those ideals that already jive with his personality
‘Jibe’, not ‘jive’.
Otherwise, spot on. Luke Skywalker, like Harry Potter, is actually fairly uninteresting, and couldn’t possibly carry the film by himself. It’s the characters around him that make it work, and especially Han and Leia (or, if you like, Hermione and Ron and Snape).
I am a huge fan of Luke and still consider him the main character, but I do agree that Han is an integral part of the whole thing – he has his own journey and pesrspective that is also interesting and part of defining the universe.
I still find Luke more relateable than Han though…I know the scale on which Luke acheives greatness is more than anything I will probably do, I still find the shape of his journey a little more similar. I’m not flashy or cocky or awesome in the way Han is.
You hit the nail on the head! For a long time I couldn’t figure out what the prequels were missing. Then it dawned on me: there’s no one around to point out how ridiculous this mess is! (besides the fans)
So, I loved Luke Skywalker with every fiber of my goody two shoes soul when I was a child. Even after he’s rescued, Han still has this mercenary attitude I couldn’t admire. He appears to be diametrically opposed to what I valued.
And then, you notice things. Like, that while he always acts like he’s driven by profit, he’s always hanging out the downtrodden and oppressed? Not much profit there, if you aren’t exploiting them.
Or that bloodstripe on his pants. Or you learn that everyone he’s ever relied on in his life has betrayed him, except for one person.
Or that he’s funny. Like really funny. And you figure out, that all the natural talent and heroism doesn’t necessarily hold candle to the fact that there is a person who can look into the darkest abyss and find something to laugh at, who’s reaction to being outnumbered is to run straight at it screaming. He doesn’t have time for ancient superstitions and hokey religions, and really doesn’t understand why your programming won’t allow you to impersonate a diety. But he’s ready with a quick draw, some creative engineering, or fast flying when needed. His morals don’t always line up with yours, but he’s always ready to go to bat for the little guy.
And that’s how you end up married to your own Han Solo.
Since I grew up on a farm in the middle of Iowa in the 70’s, I always felt more in common with Luke than Han.
Unfortunately we didn’t drink blue drinks nearly enough and so my force powers don’t seem to have developed.
Preach it, and TESTIFY. (Said the former player of Han Solo on Star Wars MUSH. :D )
Nope, it’s Luke! :)
Great article. And, while I wouldn’t go as far as saying that Han is the lead character, he is one of the most important characters in the ensemble cast, for many of the reasons you point out. And I definitely agree that his cynical viewpoint makes the whole movie more accessible to a wider audience. There are whole hosts of people who identify with Han much more easily than Luke.
And I myself have always enjoyed the SF aspects of the Star Wars movies rather than the mystical/force/Jedi stuff. It was the fighter pilot/smuggler/adventurer side of things that I enjoyed. I would much rather read something like the X-Wing series than the Jedi-focused EU books.
Han made it OK to love Star Wars, even if you weren’t into hokey religions…
Of course Han is the true lead. When I was young I wanted to be Luke, and I still keep trying to summon my beer or the remote with the force without getting up off the couch. But by ROTJ it’s clear that Han is the one you REALLY want to be.
Added: Though if you look at the entire series (episodes 1-6 and hopefully -9) a case could be made for R2D2
Themain characters are neither Luke nor Han, but R2-D2 and C-3PO. Everyone else is larger or smaller supporting roles.
Luke is the Hero. Han is the Skeptic, both of these roles are as archtypal as they come. While han may be more interesting, and has some subplots of his own, he is the sidekick, most defnitely, in the original trilogy. The terms lead and main character have definite meanings, and Han doesn’t fill them. Everything done is in support of Luke, and the story is told primarily from Luke’s PoV. Even in Empire, Han and Leia only exist to give Luke a reason to disregard Yoda and do what he thinks is right.
I see a lot of arguments here as to why Han is important, but not really any coherent reason as to why he’s the lead. Yeah, he’s an audience-identification character, and yeah, he’s cool, and yeah, his story is often more interesting – but it’s not the main story, really. Even Han’s rescue is a side-plot, not the main story. And that’s ultimately what it means to be ‘the lead’, as far as I can see – it’s your story.
I can see a stronger argument as to why Leia should be considered the lead: the story starts with her, it’s ultimately about the triumph of the rebel alliance (of which she, not Han or Luke, is the leader), most of the plot hinges on her actions, she has the romance, her father is the lead villain, and so on. She doesn’t defeat the bad guys herself, but otherwise, I’d say the original trilogy is very much her story.
The other thing about Han is that he’s the everyman in the story. He isn’t a princess and a rebel leader, he isn’t a Jedi, he’s just an ordinary guy thrust into an extraordinary situation he didn’t expect to be in. It’s hard to relate to Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan because of his powers and the fact that he sees good/evil at a cosmic level. It’s hard to relate to Leia because she comes from a background of privilege that most don’t have and that she is so idealistic. That leaves Han as the guy who deals with the day to day nonsense of life and who is living job to job- in other words, he’s just a normal dude
Han, as cool as he is, cannot be the lead.
He is integral to the story and is the one that the non-fanboy and fangirl audience can best relate to, but it does come down to the children of Anakin Skywalker and the choices they made.
They succeed where their father failed, and why?
As Rand Al’Thor succeeded where Lews Therin did not, “this time, they were raised better”.
I think Star Wars succeeds because of the balance struck by the lead trio: Han, Luke and Leia. They come from radically different backgrounds and are headed in different directions when they come across each other, and find a kind of kinship and unity. Take any one of those three away, and the story is diminished.
One of the themes of these movies is sacrifice: what would you do to protect the ones you care about? Leia risks a position of wealth and authority to lead the Rebel Alliance, kicking off the trilogy. Han risks the Death Star to save Luke at the trench, and he risks freezing to save Luke on Hoth. Luke sacrifices his training to save Han and Leia on Bespin. Before Han realizes that Luke is Leia’s brother, the formerly selfish rogue steps forward to forgo his own happiness, thinking there’s a romance between Leia and Luke. The connection between these three is something that imbues the trilogy with humanity amidst technology.
By contrast, the theme of sacrifice in the prequels had more to do with institutions and codes of conduct than interpersonal connections, and I think that’s why it felt colder and clumsier. The closest it came was when Anakin had to leave his mother. And then the whole slave trade subplot was quickly swept under the rug…ah, missed opportunities! A couple more rewrites and a second pair of eyes, and the prequel trilogy could have rivalled the original trilogy.
tl;dr: Han, Luke and Leia were all co-leads.
Bingo Fett, you are aptly named. You nailed it.
@18 and 19 – agreed.
Back in 1978 I argued that Harrison Ford was the reason to see Star Wars (and Chewbacca: love him too). To the ones who argued with me: Ha! See? Take that! I also refused to get into the argument that I had to choose Star Trek OR Star Wars. Now I’m laughing as J.J. Abrams is gearing up to do for (or to) Star Wars what he did for (or to) Star Trek. My opinion is that if you didn’t like the first or second of J.J. Abrams Star Trek re-boots, then don’t go to the next movie. That way the lineup for the ticket booth and for the snack bar will be shorter for me.
Actually, making Luke the focus of the Star Wars saga was not a retroactive decision with the prequels, or even during the writing of Empire (even if the decision to make Vader Luke’s father was).
A casual glance at the cover of Splinter of the Mind’s Eye (which predates Empire), reveals otherwise – “From the further adventures of Luke Skywalker”.
It’s about Luke, even if Han is more interesting (and less whiny – “But I was going into Tosche Station to pick up some power converters!”)