Qi’ra actor Emilia Clarke comments on whether she would be open to returning to the Star Wars franchise after her role in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Now almost 5 years removed from the release of Solo: A Star Wars Story, Qi’ra actor Emilia Clarke addresses her possible return to the franchise. Released in 2018 to generally positive reviews from critics, Ron Howard’s Solo: A Star Wars Story chronicles the formative years in the life of famed smuggler Han Solo. The character was iconically first portrayed by actor Harrison Ford in Star Wars: A New Hope in 1977, and he would go on to reprise his role for a number of sequels. The character’s prequel adventure film, however, sees actor Alden Ehrenreich take on the role of Han, with Clarke’s Qi’ra serving as Solo’s former ally.
In a recent interview with IndieWire at Sundance Film Festival, Clarke comments on whether she would be open to returning to the role of Qi’ra in another Star Wars project. The actor, who is set to make her MCU debut in Secret Invasion this spring, expresses that returning to a galaxy far, far away is not something she’s actively pursuing, but she wouldn’t necessarily be against it either. Check out Clarke’s full comment below when asked if she’s vying to reprise her role as Qi’ra:
Why A Solo Sequel Is Unlikely
Although Solo: A Star Wars Story earned generally positive reviews, it’s looking increasingly unlikely that Lucasfilm will give a sequel the green light. The biggest factor, by far, when it comes to films getting sequels is box office performance, and the Han Solo prequel majorly underperformed in this regard. Solo: A Star Wars Story is widely reported to have had a production budget of around $275 million, making its box office haul of $393 million quite a disappointment, especially after press and marketing expenses are factored in. In fact, it remains the lowest-grossing movie in the entire Star Wars franchise. From a money-making standpoint alone, then, the prequel just didn’t hit in the way Disney and Lucasfilm were expecting and did little to signal that there’s public interest in another film.
To add another nail in the coffin, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy expressed earlier last year that Solo: A Star Wars Story was a major learning moment for her and the studio, saying of potential future recastings of classic characters that “it does seem so abundantly clear that we can’t do that.” Howard himself recently confirmed as much in an interview last month, saying that a sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story is not a Lucasfilm priority and that “the only discussion that [he’s] aware of about a sequel for Solo is coming from the fans at this point.” The director did, however, say that Lucasfulm does listen to fans, suggesting that, if enough noise is made, there is still a chance.
What seems more likely at this point, is that, if Clarke’s character is to return at all, it will be in another Star Wars property that isn’t a direct sequel to Solo: A Star Wars Story. The movie is set between the events of the original trilogy and the prequel trilogy, suggesting that a show like Andor, which is set during the same period, could potentially bring back Qi’ra. Even that, however, seems very unlikely. The best bet to see more of Qi’ra’ and even a young Han is currently the Donald Glover Lando Calrissian Disney+ show, which appears to be on Disney’s backburner at the moment.
