Well, we definitely didn’t see this coming. As we count down the days until the release of Rogue One, it has been confirmed that Emilia Clarke has joined the cast of Star Wars‘ Han Solo anthology movie.
There’s no word on exactly who Clarke – who is obviously best known for starring as Daenerys Targaryen in HBO’s Game Of Thrones – is playing yet, although according to this tweet from Variety’s Justin Kroll, she fended off competition from the likes of Tessa Thompson (Westworld, Black Panther), Kiersey Clemons (Dope, The Flash) and fellow Game Of Thrones co-star Jessica Henwick.
This would appear to rule out the initial rumours that she’ll be playing Sana Solo (Han’s former ‘wife’ who we first meet in the recent comic-book series), but we’re sure that it will be a substantial role for nonetheless – you don’t bring the Khaleesi on board for nothing, after all. You don’t want to wake up that particular dragon.
Our thoughts? We’re happy. Clarke’s performances on Game Of Thrones have been curiously underrated, and although her last genre outing in Terminator Genisys didn’t exactly go to plan for anyone concerned, it’s nice to see her get another substantial platform. Hopefully this one will go better.
Anyways, here’s the full press release from starwars.com:
Emilia Clarke is heading to a galaxy far, far away — and she’s going to meet Han and Chewie.
StarWars.com is excited to announce that Clarke, known for her stirring portrayal of Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, will join the upcoming untitled Han Solo Star Warsmovie. Clarke’s role will round out a dynamic cast of characters that Han and Chewie will encounter on their adventures.
Clarke joins Alden Ehrenreich and Donald Glover — previously cast as Han Solo and Lando Calrissian, respectively — in the highly-anticipated film, which is set prior to the original Star Wars trilogy.
The untitled Han Solo movie, helmed by directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, is set for release in 2018.
Read our bumper Rogue One feature in issue 126 of SciFiNow, on sale now.
