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:



https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/912703557752774658





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!



https://twitter.com/PaulRMQ/status/912717544854884352





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



https://twitter.com/PaulRMQ/status/912733548817391616





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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