I'm sure most of you have seen the trailer for the new Solo movie. And with it of course is the onslaught of media that comes with it. And, of course, the inevitable discussions that are already beginning and will surely get worse as the movie approaches, and at their absolute worst after it happens. I have already seen a link to an article that said something like, "Seeing Han and Qi'ra in the Solo movie trailer will change your mind about Han and Leia." Ok, first, how does one trailer with a few brief moments tell us anything about his relationship with the woman? Second, I clicked on said article, and unless I missed something, all it did was recap the trailer in general, stating facts and offering no opinions. So, not sure what that was about except for clickbait. Oh, and third, are we serious here that Leia's first love was named Kier and Han's first love was named Kira - oh, sorry - I mean Qi'ra? Really?
I've been bracing myself for this since this movie was announced. I fully expect there to be a LOT of discussion about Han and this woman from his past, and how they were really meant to be together and she was his true soulmate and it's just too bad that later he had to settle for Leia, because look how that turned out? They will tell us that she knew him better than Leia ever would. And I also fully expect her to die tragically at the end of the movie, because that is just the easiest thing for them to do with her. It's going to be a total rehash of the whole Bria thing, except way worse because social media is WAY far beyond what it was when the old Han Solo trilogy books came out, and a lot more people are watching movies than reading books.
But here is the thing that I want to say. For those of us who have loved Han and Leia from the beginning, and have lot let what has happened in the new movies define them in any way, and have never wavered from feeling like they were just a wonderful couple that we love to follow and read about and write about, don't let this or any other movie change any of that. Don't let anyone try and change your opinion or tell you that this changes anything about the Han and Leia we all grew to love from the original trilogy. I admit that of course I've been one to overreact to a lot of what has been done to these two over the last few years since Disney took over, but I don't want to let it get to me anymore.
A few months after TFA came out, I asked you all what we had to look forward to as Han and Leia fans. Generally, I think most of us who still read here aren't really looking forward to anything in the official canon. They seem to be committed to making it all pretty terrible for our heroes. But the good news is that I've seen some awesome fanfic recently, and it's nice to see that so many Han and Leia fans are still treating them well and giving them the life together that they deserve.
I don't know what my real point in writing this post is. I think mostly it is that I know that a lot of us are going to once again feel kind of hurt and betrayed by whatever might happen in this new movie that will probably make things even worse for Han and Leia somehow, even without Leia being in it at all. There will absolutely also be a loud contingency of people who will be shouting about how Qi'ra is so much better for Han than Leia ever was. What I'm saying is that you don't have to listen to it, or pay attention to it. Or even argue with those people. It's not a contest that we need to win. If there are people who want to ship those two, let them. We don't have to read their stories or agree with them. And hopefully they can respect our different opinion on the subject and not turn it into an all out war over which couple is better. Because, well, it's not like there is a way to "win" that is there?
Just keep reading and writing about the couple you love and don't let any of it get to you. I know it is probably going to get difficult at times, but I think we can handle it!
