As J.J. Abrams and company endeavor to keep the lid tightly sealed on whatever they're cooking up for "Star Wars: Episode VII," reading between the lines of reports over the past few months, it is starting to emerge that the lineage to the first trilogy of films will be pretty direct. Particularly is this bit of info turns out to be true.
Latino Review is reporting that Harrison Ford is set to return as Han Solo in "Star Wars: Episode VII." Whether it's just a cameo or something more something they don't know just yet, but according to their sources, it's a done deal. Naturally, until Disney says something none of this is real and this could also just be plain bogus, but it fits into the larger narrative of what has been dripping out over the last few months.
It was reported that even before the sale of Lucasfilm to Disney had occured, George Lucas met with Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher apparently just to let them know that a new trilogy was happening, while other word had it that the 'Episode VII' would involve an older Luke Skywalker. That jibes with an interview Hamill gave nearly three decades ago when stated that Lucas' idea of 'Episode VII' involved Skywalker (sort of) returning but on "another plane of existence" and not quite as the same character. And indeed, an always cagey Ford was apparently open to return, according to reports last fall.
So, is this just the first peg that will lead to Hamill and Fisher also joining? With Abrams a long stated "Star Wars" nut, we can see him wanting to bring in his childhood heroes, even if it's just for small roles, and he's certainly not outside fan service as show by reprising Leonard Nimoy for "Star Trek" (he had also wanted William Shatner for a part as well, but they couldn't work it out). And Disney has certainly made no secret that they want to milk the original characters with plans for spinoff movies involving Young Han Solo, Boba Fett and Yoda. And certainly, getting Ford to pop his face back in and help set up that spinoff at the very least, isn't too surprising.
As for what Michael Arndt is actually dreaming up for the story of 'Episode 7' is still a mystery, but again, if this rumor plays out, there will be at least one familiar face.