Ron Howard Teases Ralph McQuarrie Concept Influence in Upcoming Han Solo Film

Ron Howard is a Twitter teasing machine! While we may not have a title, teaser, or trailer, Ron Howard has continuously been tweeting out images from the set of the Han Solo film. He continued that trend today, this time referencing legendary Star Wars concept artist Ralph McQuarrie!

 

 

Howard first sent out the image with no text, then proceeded to tweet it once again asking for a translation, including a hashtag with a very iconic name in Star Wars lore:

 

 

 

Howard used the hashtag #McQuarrie, referencing the legendary Star Wars concept artist. Ralph McQuarrie is the Godfather of Star Wars designs and concepts, and although he passed away over five years ago, his concepts are still referenced and used by Lucasfilm in new films, shows, and designs to this day! We now have confirmation that the upcoming Han Solo film will continue the trend of digging into (or at the very least referencing) the gold-mine that is Ralph McQuarrie’s concept designs.

 

We reached out to Paul Bateman, Emmy nominated concept designer and artist and friend of Ralph McQuarrie, and we noticed he actually tweeted a few replies directly to Ron Howard!

 

 

 

He then went a bit more in depth with another response, pointing out the font and its initial purpose:

 

 

 

As you can see in the circled area, the exact same symbols appear in concept art for a rebel base. Bateman explains this was the font McQuarrie came up with for Yavin IV, the famous base location from A New Hope. This does not mean Yavin IV will appear in the Han Solo film however. As we know, McQuarrie designs have been used in other areas than originally conceptualized. Some of his designs were resurrected to create environments on Jakku, the desert planet created for 2015’s The Force Awakens.

 

RETURN OF THE JEDI CONCEPT (ENTRANCE ARC TO JABBA’S PALACE)

 

THE FORCE AWAKENS (JAKKU SET)

 

For the sake of speculation beyond it just being an easter egg, we thought about some past McQuarrie concept art we’ve seen with symbols that may fit in the Han Solo movie. Here we have concept art from McQuarrie showcasing the inside of Jabba’s Palace that wasn’t used in Return of the Jedi.

 

 

Followed by this piece showing a more familiar scene. You can see the trim around Jabba has a ribbon of design, but the entray way to the far right has a much more segmented based symbol ribbon. Could these symbols have anything to do with Jabba’s Palace on Tatooine?

 

 

What do you make of the font in relation to the Han Solo film? Is it a series of symbols that will become more important to the rebellion than we thought? A theme? Is it just a simple easter egg nod to the legendary concept designer of Star Wars, Ralph McQuarrie? Regardless of its purpose or significance in the film, we are happy to see that the legacy of McQuarrie continues to live on in Star Wars now, and the future.

 

 

“For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is.”

You can find me on Twitter @JohnnyHoey and you know we’ll be talking about this on The Resistance Broadcast podcast this week @RBatSWNN.

 

 

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John Hoey is the Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net and the host of The Resistance Broadcast podcast

"For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."

John Hoey

John Hoey is the Lead Editor and Senior Writer for Star Wars News Net and the host of The Resistance Broadcast podcast"For my ally is the Force, and a powerful ally it is."

19 thoughts on “Ron Howard Teases Ralph McQuarrie Concept Influence in Upcoming Han Solo Film

  • September 26, 2017 at 10:28 pm
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    It’s an Y-wing. And a price tag.

  • September 26, 2017 at 10:32 pm
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    I know they would never do it, but I wish the Han film could take some cues from the Brian Daley Han Solo trilogy novels from back in the day. I have fond memories of those books.

    I’ll definitely settle for more Ralph McQuarrie influences in this, and further Star Wars movies.

  • September 26, 2017 at 10:44 pm
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    That Jabba speculation might be a good guess.

    I’m very curious about this film and all these recent teases actually make me excited for it, though I’m still afraid it will check most of the boxes from Han’s past we already know some things about from the old canon

  • September 26, 2017 at 11:05 pm
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    It means “Jedi Rocks!”

    • September 27, 2017 at 12:16 am
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      Let’s hope not.

    • September 27, 2017 at 11:17 am
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      It’s a recipe for Bantha-Steak 😛

  • September 26, 2017 at 11:34 pm
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    Hands down, Ron Howard is the best thing to have happened to this film.

    • September 26, 2017 at 11:37 pm
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      Thus far, I wholeheartedly agree! I am much less worried about this movie and genuinely more interested in it than I was before.

      • September 27, 2017 at 10:06 pm
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        Same here. Also, he is a really fun personality, and definitely is getting me exited for more Star Wars!

    • September 27, 2017 at 11:27 am
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      If Howard turns out to be officially credited as director, I’m not only fine with that, I hope this becomes the case.

    • September 28, 2017 at 10:35 am
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      SO MUCH BETTER THAN THE CLOWNS THEY FIRED 🙂

  • September 27, 2017 at 1:06 am
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    More McQuarrie is good, the man was a genius

    • September 27, 2017 at 10:04 pm
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      I agree, but they should conserve it, because there is only so much, and there are great concept designers at LF right now, too. We need to have Ralph McQuarrie designs in all future Star Wars movies, comics, and even video games.

      • September 27, 2017 at 11:44 pm
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        Agreed, I think they may suck the life out of every piece of art he left for Phase I of the SWCU, until 2020, then maybe we will see some departure (hopefully) from the OT.

  • September 27, 2017 at 4:46 pm
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    Yet more McQuarrie recycling?

    Don’t get me wrong, I love his designs, but at this rate they’ll have used pretty much every rejected idea in a few years.

    • September 28, 2017 at 10:34 am
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      Um. McQuarrie’s work is pure GENIOUS and should be used as much as possible.

      • September 28, 2017 at 11:29 am
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        Yeah, and you’re the person who wants two hours of nothing but Darth Vader. I don’t think I’ll be placing much stock in your opinions.

      • October 16, 2017 at 2:34 pm
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        You can’t spell Genius…….genius.

  • September 28, 2017 at 10:35 am
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    Ralph MacQuarrie concepts in Han Solo? I’M IN BABY !

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