Solo: A Star Wars Story star Alden Ehrenreich reveals what it would take for him to return as a young Han Solo. Directed by Ron Howard, the 2018 Star Wars prequel movie chronicles Han’s origins as a smuggler and how he met figures like Chewbacca and Lando Calrissian.

Solo was a notable disappointment critically and commercially, grossing just $392 million worldwide. Ehrenreich has gone on to appear in other notable films, including the acclaimed Oppenheimer (2023) and this summer’s Weapons (2025), but he has not yet returned as the legendary Star Wars smuggler.

During a recent interview with Collider, Ehrenreich reflects on his time as Han Solo, speaking about how important it is to work in a supportive environment, particularly when characters are going through a hard time. Check out his comment below:

“Your job as an actor, in a way, is to use the energy that’s happening [around you]. And sometimes that energy involves stress, but characters are under stress. There are very few characters who are just having a ball. So it’s contributive sometimes. As long as it’s an environment where people feel safe.

Addressing whether he would return as Solo for another outing, Ehrenreich suggests it’s not an impossibility, but there is a condition that must be met:

It would have to really, really be the right version of it.

What This Means For Young Han Solo’s Future

Though Ehrenreich isn’t completely shutting the door on more young Han Solo adventures, it seems very unlikely that any will come to pᴀss. Made on an estimated inflated budget of $275 million, Solo may have been looking at a break-even point of as high as $687 million, going off of the standard Hollywood rule of thumb.

For a Star Wars movie, a $392 million global haul would be considered disappointing by any metric, but Solo‘s potential break-even point highlights just how far off the mark the film really was. On Rotten Tomatoes, the prequel has just a 69% critics score, and the Popcornmeter score is even worse at 63%.

Despite featuring a talented director and stars like Woody Harrelson, Donald Glover, Emilia Clarke, Thandiwe Newton, and Paul Bettany, Solo just didn’t connect with audiences. It also came one year before the release of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), another notable critical dud (though it was a box office hit).

After two notable misses, Disney will probably play it relatively safe with future Star Wars movies, meaning no doubling down on what didn’t work. The two upcoming releases are The Mandalorian and Grogu and Star Wars: Starfighter starring Ryan Gosling, and young Han Solo is not set to appear in either of these.

Our Take On Alden Ehrenreich’s Potential Star Wars Return

With recent releases like Oppenheimer, Fair Play (2023), and Weapons, Ehrenreich has proven himself a talented actor. It largely seems like he has been able to weather the storm of Solo‘s failure, taking interesting roles across a variety of genres.

In many ways, Ehrenreich was set up for failure from the start with Solo: A Star Wars Story. Though he does an admirable job, Harrison Ford is a truly unique talent, and asking a younger actor to replicate that energy is an incredibly tall order. Though the door may not be entirely closed, Ehrenreich may be better off leaving young Han Solo behind.