This past week, Star Wars fans were treated to Force Friday II, which featured the release of all the new franchise’s products. Also released, though, was the news that Marvel actor Paul Bettany would be joining the ranks of the Untitled Han Solo film, currently being directed by Ron Howard.
Replacing Phil Lord and Chris Miller, Howard has been active on social media ever since, posting frequent on-set shots to reassure fans that everything has been going smoothly in finishing the film. On Friday, Howard posted a new photo on Twitter (below) showing Bettany on set with him, and confirming that this wasn’t an ordinary visit among friends, but that Bettany is now joining the cast and making things “a little bit wilder.”
Howard noticeably has not revealed the details on Bettany’s character, although many fans have speculated that he will be taking the place of Michael K. Williams who dropped out of the project due to scheduling conflicts. Before he left, Williams informed audiences that his character would be “half animal, half human” and connected to Emilia Clarke‘s character Kira. According to CinemaBlend, Bettany’s version of the character will be fully human, but with the same name and traits. Based on the tidbit of him making the Outer Rim “wilder,” it is also likely that this character will be in some way connected to the same crime world as Solo. Now we will just have to see if they are allies or enemies.
Bettany’s most recent film appearances have been in Marvel projects, first showing up in Iron Man as the voice of Tony Stark’s A.I., J.A.R.V.I.S., and then transitioning in Avengers: Age of Ultron to The Vision, a character he also reprised in Captain America; Civil War and soon in Avengers: Infinity War. Bettany and Howard are long-time collaborators, with Bettany appearing in the director’s past projects A Beautiful Mind and The DaVinci Code.
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