There Was a Big Debate Between Disney and Lucasfilm about Killing Off Han Solo in THE FORCE AWAKENS
Han Solo dying in Star Wars: The Force Awakens was obviously a huge deal and killing him off isn't something that the creative team took lightly. It wasn't an easy decision for them to make. Due to the gravitas of the decision, Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and director J.J. Abrams took the idea to Disney CEO Bob Iger, and according to him, they had a big debate over the decision.
While talking to Vanity Fair, Bob Iger revealed that "one of their mutual concerns was how to balance legacy with innovation; more bluntly, how much fan service could they get away with versus how many original characters, new worlds and weapons would have to be introduced to appease the audience."
“We had a big debate about Han Solo. Should he die or not? It was a decision made by Kennedy and Abrams, but I got involved.”
We all know what decision they ended up making. Yeah, it sucked to see Han Solo die at the hand of his own son Kylo Ren, but it was a shocking and powerful moment in the film that moved the story forward, and in the process left fans in tears.
Do you think killing off Han Solo was the right move or do you wish they would have let him live to fight another day?
Source: Polygon