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Oops! Woody Harrelson has revealed exactly who he’s playing in the Han Solo movie… UPDATED: Looks like he’s not after all

January 23rd, 2017 by Marc Comments

movie-news-banner-copyActor Woody Harrelson talks about HBO's "True Detective" during the Winter 2014 TCA presentations in Pasadena

Uh-oh, Woody Harrelson could be getting a phone call from some of Disney/Lucasfilm’s lawyers if he’s not careful!

In an interview with Variety (watch it below), Harrelson is asked about his upcoming role in the upcoming Han Solo Star Wars movie and is asked is he can confirm he’s Garris Shrike, Han’s mentor from the AC Crispin novel, The Paradise Snare: The Han Solo Trilogy Book 1.

Shrike is a big character in the EU (now known as Star Wars Legends) as he was the man who introduced Solo to the world of piloting space ships and being a pirate, although he becomes something of a rival too.

The story in the novel takes place some ten years before a new Hope so it could give an idea of the timeline of the movie, perhaps.

When he’s asked if he’s Shrike, Harrrelson looks  confused before nervously admitting ‘yeah, I am’ although I’m honestly unsure if he’s answering the ‘mentor’ part of the question or the specify ‘Shrike’ part.

We’ve known for a while the Harrelson was a ‘mentor’ in the movie (here) but how do you feel now that you know he may be such a fan favourite EU character as Shrike?

Does this make you more excited for the movie? Less excited? Let us know…

UPDATED:

Star Wars and Lucafilm expert Pablo Hidalgo has taken to Twitter and said that while Woody was saying yes, he has no idea who the character is yet and that is ISN’T Shrike. In fairness, Hidalgo is most likely being totally honest here, so we’re going to have to go with our initial instinct and say that Harrelson wasn’t really sure what he was saying and therefore is likely NOT Shrike after all.

Veteran film and television actor Woody Harrelson is stepping aboard the upcoming Han Solo movie set to arrive in theaters next year.

Harrelson, known for wide-ranging roles in film and TV such as The Hunger Games, No County For Old Men, True Detective, Cheers, and Zombieland, will join actors Alden Ehrenreich (Han Solo), Donald Glover (Lando Calrissian), and Emilia Clarke in the adventure. This Star Wars Story is the second in a series of films that live outside the Skywalker family saga, and is set during the early scoundrel days of the iconic characters, prior to A New Hope.

“We couldn’t be more excited to work with an artist with as much depth and range as Woody,” said the film’s directors Phil Lord and Christopher Miller. “His ability to find both humor and pathos, often in the same role, is truly unique. He is also very good at ping pong.”

The as-yet-untitled movie, which is being produced by Kathleen Kennedy, Allison Shearmur, and Simon Emanuel, is scheduled for release in 2018

Marc is a self-confessed nerd. Ever since seeing Star Wars for the first time around 1979 he’s been an unapologetic fan of the Wars and still believes, with Clone Wars and now Underworld, we are yet to see the best Star Wars. He’s a dad of two who now doesn’t have the time (or money) to collect the amount of toys, comics, movies and books he once did, much to the relief of his long-suffering wife. In the real world he’s a graphic designer. He started Following the Nerd because he was tired of searching a million sites every day for all the best news that he loves and decided to create one place where you can go to get the whole lot. Secretly he longs to be sitting in the cockpit of his YT-1300 Corellian Transport ship with his co-pilot Chewie, roaming the universe, waiting for his next big adventure, but feels just at home watching cartoons with his kids….