Han Solo movie's details begin to stack up: Enter Maz
Beyond the release date and extreme basics for the upcoming Star Wars: Han Solo film, we've had very little to go on for details. Very little, that is, before Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released. Now Lucasfilm can't help but release bits and pieces that are required to make The Force Awakens a fully massive experience well beyond the big screen – and that includes informative canon-friendly books of all sorts. The first place we're looking today is the book "Star Wars: The Force Awakens: The Visual Dictionary."
According to TVD (as we'll call it from here on out), "Kanata has gotten many a young brigand started in the freebooting trade." It's also said that she is the "preeminent font of smuggler wisdom." This and the clarity with which we see Han Solo's connection with Kanata, on a very personal level, makes us presume that Han got his start in the smuggler trade from this diminutive pirate legend.
"She's run this watering hole for a thousand years. Maz is a bit of an acquired taste, so let me do the talking – and whatever you do, don't stare." – Han Solo
If that weren't enough, the StarWars.com Databank also says something very similar: "She has given many a young smuggler a start by offering credits, equipment, or connections, and helped many an old friend rediscover a lost path."
Both sources make specific mention of her role in giving smugglers their start. Han Solo is the most notorious smuggler in the Star Wars film series.
Therefore we're going to go ahead and trust that our source (who spoke with us on condition of anonymity), is speaking truth. This source suggests that Maz Kanata will return at least one more – if not just in the next Star Wars trilogy film, then in the Han Solo film set for release in May of 2018.
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After a question about Maz's details, J.J. Abrams suggested that "In the movie, you don't learn these things, but I know that these are things that are coming out in other venues." Books – of course – but likely other movies, too.
Earlier this year in EW, President of Lucasfilm Kathleen Kennedy suggested that in the Han Solo film, Han himself will "definitely be probably in the high teens, low 20s... We're not introducing you to a 10-year-old Han Solo."
Han Solo's age has not been confirmed in our modern-day canon of Star Wars lore. If we assume that his age matches Harrison Ford's age, he's around 35 years old at the time of the Battle of Yavin (aka Star Wars: A New Hope). If that is true, it matches up well with Han's widely assumed birth near the end of the Clone Wars.
The timeline goes like this:
1. The Clone Wars begin in Episode II: Attack of the Clones.3 years pass2. The Clone Wars end in Episode III: Revenge of The Sith.19 years pass *3. The Battle of Yavin occurs in Star Wars: A New Hope.4 years pass4. The Battle of Endor occurs in Return of the Jedi.30 years pass5. The events of The Force Awakens occur.
* We can place this Han Solo film between 2 and 3, likely closer to 2, near the end of the Clone Wars or immediately after it. Therein we'll likely see Han meet Kanata, get his start in smuggling, and maybe even meet Chewbacca for the first time.
We'll see the whole shebang in May of 2018!