Rumor: 'Star Wars' Spinoff Eyes Taron Egerton For Young Han

There are currently two planned Star Wars standalone films: Gareth Edwards’ 2016 project, which has been rumored to focus on Boba Fett and a group of bounty hunters attempting to steal the plans for the Death Star. Both that film and the other standalone project have also been rumored to tell the story of young Han Solo. According to a new report, Disney has their sights set on Kingsman: The Secret Service’s breakout star Taron Egerton for the part of young Solo.

The rumor originates at UK tabloid The Sun, picked up by the Daily Mail, which means you should most certainly take this with a big helping of salt. Regardless, Egerton is a great candidate for the part, recently showing off both his charisma and action skills in Kingsman, two of the necessary qualities to play Han Solo.

And although this is a Rumor with a capital R, there is this tweet from Kingsman comic creator Mark Millar:

Either Millar is also a fan of this rumor, or he knows something we don’t.

There have been conflicting reports about the Star Wars spinoffs, and the Sun reports that the Han Solo spinoff, which is planned for release in 2018, would tell the story of how Solo obtained the Millennium Falcon and how his conflict with Jabba the Hutt began. We’ve previously heard rumors that a young Han Solo film would include Jabba, but we’ve also heard that Edwards’ project may feature young Solo as well.

Until Disney makes a formal announcement about either project, all we have to go on are these rumors — although this one is the best casting rumor yet.

Edwards’ film was scripted by Gary Whitta, who recently departed the project, with Chris Weitz coming aboard to pen a new draft. That film has cast Felicity Jones in a leading role, and is planned for release in December 2016. A previous report from Disney confirmed the release schedule for the new Star Wars trilogy of films, along with Edwards’s spinoff, though curiously absent from that news was the mention of the second standalone film. Fantastic Four director Josh Trank has been reportedly hired for the second spinoff project, but rumors as of late indicate that Trank may not actually be the director of that film. Disney hasn’t made an official announcement regarding Trank’s involvement, so that may very well be the case.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18, while Edwards’ standalone film arrives on December 16, 2016.