History YMMV / Solo

* MisaimedMarketing: A harmless example, but the film has a tie-in deal going on with Norton Lifelock computer security programs. Nothing says we’ll protect your valuable stuff than having ads featuring Han, who in this film is established as a lifelong thief and smuggler.

* AssPull: The reveal that [[spoiler:the Crimson Dawn was working for Maul]] comes ''completely'' out of left field, with no foreshadowing throughout the film aside from occasional mentions that Dryden serves a higher power who is dreaded by many (which could refer to anyone). It's even more jarring to a casual viewer who had probably only seen the films and wondered how [[spoiler:Maul survived being ''sliced in half'' and falling thousands of feet down a massive shaft in ''The Phantom Menace'']], [[ContinuityLockOut which is only explained in tie-in materials]] like ''The Clone Wars'' and ''Rebels'' (though with the caveat that ''The Clone Wars'' was tie-in material a large swath of the public actually saw).

* CrackPairing: Qi'ra and [[spoiler: Maul, after his promise that they will be working together "[[TermsOfEndangerment very closely in the future]]".]]Also in part because of the people who find [[spoiler: both of them]] [[EvilIsSexy sexy.]]

** Speaking of Qi'ra, her relationship with Dryden Vos. He tells Qi'ra he considers her the person he trusts most in the galaxy; is he being genuine about that, or buttering her up? Also, the way she talks about it suggests it isn't romantic/sexual, yet Dryden still ''behaves'' like it is, infringing on her personal space many times. Is he an AbhorrentAdmirer, or is she lying to Han? [[spoiler:When she kills him, she just says "I had to do it" in a way that sounds like she's trying to convince herself, which suggests she may have genuinely been fond of him. To what extent, who knows.]] There's also the possibility that due to his control over her life, she may be suffering from a degree of StockholmSyndrome to cope with it.

* WTHCastingAgency: Alden Ehrenreich being a relatively unknown actor bearing little resemblance to Harrison Ford cast doubt over his ability to portray Han Solo. Upon the film's release, however, Ehrenreich [[SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct received a lot of praise]] for his performance as a younger, more idealistic Han Solo who gradually becomes more cynical. There are several moments, mostly towards the end of the film, where he sounds very much like Harrison Ford in the original films, making it a possible case of AbilityOverAppearance.

** Some people believe that Enfys Nest [[spoiler: is actually Beckett's estranged ''daughter'' with Val, and that Val wore the helmet before her but abandoned it when she fell in love with Beckett, since her actress Creator/ErinKellyman [[SeparatedAtBirthCasting plausibly looks like she could be the child]] of Woody Harrelson and Thandie Newton, and that she hates him because he works for the same people she spends her life fighting. Or alternatively, that she's the child of either Beckett or Val, but not both of them]] Some people have gone even further and suggested that [[spoiler: she's actually ''Maul's'' daughter (however, given Enfys's age, this shouldn't be physically possible, as Maul has been [[EunuchsAreEvil unable to conceive for 22 years]] due to [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe his bisection]]).]]

** After Creator/PhoebeWallerBridge played L3 in this movie, she would later go on to be cast in a movie featuring Creator/HarrisonFord's ''other'' most iconic character, this time played by the man himself in ''Indiana Jones 5''.

* EvilIsSexy:
** [[spoiler:Qi'ra is a self-serving ManipulativeBitch who doesn't care who stands in her way to get on top, and she's portrayed by the ever-so sexy Emilia Clarke]].
** Dryden Vos, portrayed by the handsome Paul Bettany. His [[RedRightHand facial scars]] don't detract from his good looks.

** A marketing example. The announcement that the Untitled Han Solo film would be titled ''Solo'' was seen as an obvious choice, given that the franchise has been making use of {{Character Title}}s recently. Possibly justified, given the TroubledProduction and rumors that it was supposed to be titled something else.

* RetroactiveRecognition: Lexi, a scrumrat who steals another kid's loot in an early scene, is played by Lily Newmark , who later became better known for her role as Pym in ''Series/{{Cursed}}''.

* MemeticBadass: Therm Scissorpunch, a crustacean-looking Nephran with a cool name on par with [[Film/AttackOfTheClones Elan Sleazebaggano]]. His badass status seems to have ascended from a meme years later, as he was once shown to be part of Maz Kanata's pirate gang in ''[[ComicBook/StarWarsTheHighRepublicAdventures2022 The Hight Republic Adventures (2022)]]''.

* MagnificentBastard: [[EvilMentor Tobias Beckett]] is a smuggler working for the [[Characters/StarWarsCrimsonDawnSyndicate Crimson Dawn Syndicate]]. Introduced disguised as an Imperial officer, Beckett and his teammates successfully desert a battle in spite of [[Characters/StarWarsHanSoloCharacterSheet Han Solo]]'s blackmail attempt, later taking the young man as a protégé after a train heist goes wrong. Assigned to deliver a stolen shipment of coaxium to [[BigBad Dryden Vos]], Beckett secretly monitors his teammates and reports them to his boss when they decide to give the material to the Cloud Riders instead. When it turns out that Han anticipated this, Beckett betrays Vos as well in order to make off with the coaxium for himself. Whether working with him or against him, Beckett proves himself to be a worthy teacher toward the young Han Solo.

** What exactly did Qi'ra do to rise from a petty thief on the streets of Corellia to the very near top of the Crimson Dawn's hierachy, especially under [[spoiler:Maul's leadership? Given what he did in the Clone Wars]], and how ashamed Qi'ra seems to be of what she's done, it [[DarkAndTroubledPast can't have been pretty...]]

** Similarly, many, ''many'' people suggested that Qi'ra might be Enfys Nest, largely due to the above theory and Nest being a masked pirate with no known identity. This ended up not being true, however, as Nest is played by a different actor. adnd one of the trailers clearly showed a scene with both Qi'ra and Enfys in it at the same time and place. [[spoiler:Although, as it turns out, Nest is actually female.]]

** Dryden Vos. BadassCape, cool scars, a totally pimpin' yacht-starship, Creator/PaulBettany's awesomely psychotic performance, and to top it all of, he's [[AuthorityEqualsAsskicking no slouch in combat]] to boot.

** People calling Creator/AldenEhrenreich a "total unknown" are mistaken. Ehrenreich was discovered by Creator/FrancisFordCoppola, who cast him in his film ''Tetro''. Much like Ford was, actually. He also previously received a great deal of praise for his role in ''Film/HailCaesar'' and it's very likely that it was that very praise what got him the role of Han Solo in the first place.

* ItsTheSameSoItSucks: One of the reasons for why Han/Qi'ra was looked down on was because of disinterest in another tragic romance as a major point of the movie. It's been done in the Prequel Trilogy, ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' (by giving Han/Leia a HappyEndingOverride), ''[[WesternAnimation/StarWarsRebels Rebels]]'', [[spoiler:and Kylo Ren/Rey]] after ''Film/TheRiseOfSkywalker''. Instead of yet more [[StarCrossedLovers doomed love]], a number of fans feel that Han and Qi'ra should've been akin to siblings to parallel Luke and Leia or Ezra and Sabine instead.

* BrokenBase: Though many enjoy (or dislike) both films, there is a significant intra-fandom rivalry between ''Solo'' and ''Film/TheLastJedi'', due to their close proximity in release dates and different approaches to advancing ''Star Wars'' lore. Those who prefer ''Last Jedi'' tend to argue that it took more risks than ''Solo'' and that the latter film was too deeply rooted in franchise nostalgia, while those who prefer ''Solo'' tend to argue that it was more respectful of the ''Star Wars'' mythos while still telling its own story. The conflict is not helped by ''Solo'' earning a lot less than ''The Last Jedi'' in theaters, with some ''Solo'' fans blaming the divisive reception to the latter film[[note]]often citing ''Last Jedi'''s sharp weekend-to-weekend box office drops in comparison to ''Film/TheForceAwakens'' and calls for ''Star Wars'' boycotts in the wake of ''Last Jedi''[[/note]] while ''Last Jedi'' fans claim ''Solo'' lived or died by its own merits (or, for those with more sympathy for ''Solo'', citing issues with the film's marketing, production troubles, and disadvantageous release date). Ironically, ''Solo'' director Creator/RonHoward and ''Last Jedi'' director Creator/RianJohnson both praised [[https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/943308403174096896/photo/1 each]] [[https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/1001138958921744385 other's]] films on Twitter.[[note]]There is some contention regarding the fact that Howard retweeted [[https://twitter.com/RealRonHoward/status/1002187277790056448 some]] [[https://twitter.com/Se3NoEvil/status/1002046691753656325 tweets]] that promoted ''Solo'' at the expense of ''The Last Jedi'', but some have suggested this was simply in jest on Howard's part as he also retweets positive buzz of both films as well.[[/note]]

* FanPreferredCouple: ''Film/SoloAStarWarsStory'' gives Han a pre-Leia love interest in the form of Qi'ra - one that the fandom seems to have completely shrugged off, in favor of Lando. In an odd case of this, it rarely supersedes Leia entirely; it just seems to be strongly agreed that Han and Lando were together and are AmicableExes by the time of the original trilogy, while Qi'ra barely even rates a blip. Even Billy Dee Williams suggested at a convention that they'd had sex at least once.

-->'''Han:''' ''(after Chewie joins him in the shower)'' [[CringeComedy We couldn't have done this one at a time?]]

** L3 becoming [[spoiler:a part of the Falcon was meant to be seen as heartwarming, but many viewers saw it as a FateWorseThanDeath since her goal was freedom and she's more or less been enslaved forever. The novelization actually supports this, showing that L3 was conscious inside the Falcon and did NOT want to be part of it until the Falcon blackmailed her into joining by pointing out that Lando would die without it, and then forcibly assimilated her. This is furthered with the short story “[[Literature/FromACertainPointOfViewTheEmpireStrikesBack Faith In An Old Friend]]” which is told from L3’s POV in the Falcon and she turns out to miss having her own body and resents Lando for letting her be sold.]]

** L3 becoming [[spoiler:a part of the Falcon was meant to be seen as heartwarming, but many viewers saw it as a FateWorseThanDeath since her goal was freedom and she's more or less been enslaved forever. The novelization actually supports this, showing that L3 was conscious inside the Falcon and did NOT want to be part of it until the Falcon blackmailed her into joining by pointing out that Lando would die without it, and then forcibly assimilated her.]]

* MemeticBadass: Therm Scissorpunch, a crustacean-looking Nephran with a cool name on par with [[Film/AttackOfTheClones Elan Sleazebaggano]].

* AuthorsSavingThrow:
** The presence of Twi'leks in the background of the Super Bowl teaser seem to address complaints about the lack of familiar ''Star Wars'' aliens in the Sequel Trilogy and less so for ''Film/RogueOne'', the first anthology film. Further confirmed by the presence of a suit of the much-beloved Mandalorian armor in the background of the second trailer. The presence of Pykes in the movie has also been praised, not only because they are another group of familiar aliens, but also since they were restricted to animation and books prior to this movie. Furthermore, one of Enfys' Cloud Riders, Chussido, is clearly a Rodian, a very classic species from the franchise.
** After a bunch of people were upset about ''Film/RogueOne'' lacking any kind of opening crawl, this film splits the difference with a brief text intro in the same style as the "A long time ago" card, possibly setting the template for all future side films in the franchise. A number of people also like this take on the idea, since it helps establish the different, somewhat desperate atmosphere of the movie's start - there's no fanfare, no grandness, just the grim reality of life in the gutter of Corellia.
** [[spoiler:Maul igniting his lightsaber in front of Qi'ra]] was criticized by some for being perhaps a bit too obvious example of fanservice, not to mention looking a little bit silly. The author of the novelization confirmed that it was both 1) a straightforward case of IntimidationDemonstration, and 2) Qi'ra [[InternalReveal didn't actually know who he was before then]], ([[FridgeBrilliance which makes perfect sense]], since [[spoiler:Force users, at this time in the galaxy, are supposed to be extinct.]])
** After long-reviled changes to Han's confrontation with Greedo in ''A New Hope'' to lessen his initial AntiHero characterization -- one that still continues to this day with continued altering for the film's release on Disney Plus -- ''Solo'''s climax [[spoiler: has Han pragmatically shooting Beckett first before Beckett can even raise his blaster.]]

* MemeticBadass: Therm Scissorpunch, a crustacean-looking Nephran with a [[AwesomeMcCoolname cool name]] on par with [[Film/AttackOfTheClones Elan Sleazebaggano]].

* UnfortunateImplications: Star Wars has always had a real problem with its droids, who clearly have peronalities nad desires, but who are literally owned objects. Beyond human slavery, because they're literally programmable objects with eraseable memories. This movie makes it worse because it gives us a droid who actively resents being treated this way and Lando constantly rolls his eyes at it, and the movie treats her as a SoapBoxSadie who's annoyingly wrong... up until the droids she frees stage an active rebellion and aid the slave rebellion on Kessel.

* UnfortunateImplications: Star Wars has always had a real problem with its droids, who clearly have peronalities nad desires, but who are literally owned objects. Beyond human slavery, because they're literally programmable objects with eraseable memories. This movie makes it worse because it gives us a droid who actively resents being treated this way and Lando constantly rolls his eyes at it, and the movie treats her as a SoapBoxSadie who's annoyingly wrong.