In the first few months after Ron Howard took over directing Solo, there was understandable radio silence over the whole production. Eventually the veil began to lift and Howard was quick to reach out to Star Wars through social media, and one of the first things he did was tease an appearance by fan-favorite Expanded Universe characters Tag and Bink. The comedic duo were to be played by co-writer Jon Kasdan and assistant director Toby Heffernan. Howard even tweeted out this image…
— Ron Howard (@RealRonHoward) October 14, 2017
Those who have actually seen Solo know there was no such scene in the final cut dashing the dreams of Tag and Bink’s creator who thought they were about to become official canon. Whomp whomp.
So what happened? Kasdan, who co-wrote the film with his father and franchise vet Lawrence Kasdan, says an entire section of Han’s origin was cut out. Unfortunately it was Han’s time as an Imperial officer, which is where he would have encountered Tag and Bink…
“One of the things we went back and forth on a lot is that both Larry [Kasdan, co-writer] and I felt that it was important to see Han in the Imperial Academy, in the Navy, because we wanted to see him become this pilot,” he reveals to Comicbook.com. “From the first draft through the last draft, there was a chunk of the movie — Very short. Like, I’d say 80 seconds long — that showed him in the Imperial Academy doing some sort of flight things, sort of disobeying a direct order, and getting kicked out.”
“As he’s getting kicked out, he’s being sort of moved out of the official courtroom by Tag and Bink, played by [me] and Toby Hefferman. We were certain that these scene was going to remain because it’s a crucial moment in his life. And it was the last thing to come out. It was heartbreaking.”
Something tells me Phil Lord and Chris Miller had more of an investment in having them on screen than Howard did. Still, maybe if there are more Solo movies, and that’s a huge if at this point, we’ll get to see the Rosencratz & Guildenstern of the Star Wars universe get their moment to shine on the big screen.
