Paul Bettany Describes His 'Solo' Character As An "Intergalactic Gangster"

By: Dominic Jones

Details about the upcoming film Solo: A Star Wars Story remain firmly under wraps by Lucasfilm, as the company focuses on the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi this December.  But for fans dying to know any little details about the film, which hits theaters in May, one of Solo's stars has dropped a small little tidbit about their role.  Paul Bettany (A Beautiful Mind, The Avengers) appeared at Rhode Island Comic Con this past weekend and was asked about his Solo character during his fan Q&A.

Bettany told fans (via Adventures In Poor Taste),

"Ya know, obviously, I’m a very cool intergalactic gangster."

Bettany was a late addition to the cast, joining the project after director Ron Howard was brought in to replace Phil Lord and Chris Miller.  Bettany is reportedly playing the role that Michael K. Williams played in the original version of the film (Williams dropped out of the project because the extensive reshoots that Howard was doing didn't work with his schedule).  However, Williams' version of the character would have been an alien achieve through motion capture performance, whereas Bettany is simply playing a human.

After leaving the project, Williams described his character as follows,

"He wore this beautiful white kimono, was very regal. He had class, money strength, charisma . . . and he knew how to fight. He was a warrior. He had a lot of prestige. If he lived in our world he would probably hang out with Jay Z and Beyoncé." 

These definitely sound like they are the same character.  Bettany's description of a "very cool intergalactic gangster" definitely fits in with Williams description of the character as having "class money, strength, charisma." 

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25th, 2018 and stars Alden Ehrenreich (Hail Caesar!) as Han Solo, Donald Glover (Atlanta) as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) as Kura, Woody Harrelson (True Detective) as Beckett, Phoebe Waller-Bridge (Fleabag), Thandie Newton (Westworld), and Paul Bettany (The Avengers).  The film is directed by Ron Howard (A Beautiful Mind), with a script by Lawrence Kasdan (The Empire Strikes Back) and his son Jon Kasdan (The First Time).

Source: Adventures In Poor Taste

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