With the hype machine in force for Disney’s “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” Legends fans might be looking for a Han Solo fix, too. Kyle Newman delivered the latest non-canon Solo yarn, “Smuggler’s Revenge,” in April 2017 at Star Wars Celebration. This audio drama fits well with Legends canon, and it completes the trilogy that started with “Smuggler’s Gambit” (2012) and “Smuggler’s Bounty” (2015).
Although Newman says a fully produced version will be posted at starwars.com, such a thing doesn’t seem to exist. But the recording of the live performance (which includes music and sound effects) from Celebration is still pretty good. Often it plays well if you just listen to the audio and let your mind fill in the imagery, something hinted at by stage host Warwick Davis – who plays Wayland Wintaro, an old friend/rival of Han’s.
As with the previous entries, the performers are seeing this script for the first time as they read it – although Newman says he and co-writer F.J. DeSanto did some read-throughs with David Collins (Han Solo). Davis, best known for playing Wicket in “Return of the Jedi,” didn’t even know he’d be called on for the play reading. He actually gives one of the best turns.
In “Revenge,” Newman – best known for directing “Fanboys” and “Barely Lethal” – draws upon the Solo cliches we love, including the notion that he has a girl in every spaceport, that every spaceport also contains someone who wants to kill him, and that he always looks out for No. 1.
The scene stealers are Tom Kane (Yoda in “The Clone Wars”), who I didn’t know could do such a perfect C-3PO, and Sam Witwer (Darth Maul in “The Clone Wars”), who brings energy to Ro Kurota, who is exasperated that Han – his captive – doesn’t remember him (from “Gambit”). Also a screen actor, Witwer even falls down “dead” on stage.
Newman and DeSanto craft a story that feels important in the lore on multiple levels. It starts off with Han and Chewie fending off wampas trying to enter Echo Base. The potential wampa incursion was a side plot in the opening act of “The Empire Strikes Back,” but it got cut out by the time of the final print. Remnants remain in the comic adaptation and in deleted scenes in the 2011 Blu-ray collection.
While Han and Leia (Catherine Taber, Padme on “The Clone Wars”) do their usual arguing about Han’s level of commitment to the cause, Han’s skills are of particular use here. The Rebels need an important part for the shield generator to be acquired and smuggled out of a rough port called Orto Prismo.
The “one problem after another” plot wraps up with Wintaro revealing that something is much more valuable than the bounties on Han or Leia: the location of the Rebel base.
A final Han-Chewie joke about how Han always shoots first is a bit on the nose, but heck, the whole thing is fan service anyway. The remarkable thing is that Newman and DeSanto have penned such a solid script (even better than the first two) that if it were made into an animated one-hour TV special, it would be a great chapter in “Star Wars” lore.
Even in the form of a staged play reading, “Smuggler’s Revenge” is a nice treat for Han Solo and “Star Wars” Legends fans.