Summary
The idea of aStar Warshorror movie has been dreamed up for years, but it turns out the franchise has already made one that was hidden in the midst ofSolo: A Star Wars Story.Star Warshas always had a dark side. Themost powerful Sith inStar Warswere also terrible people who committed countless atrocities, and they’re often the focus ofStar Warsstories. The franchise has, admittedly rarely, gotten darker than that, though, and it sometimes veered into actual horror. The closest the franchise has ever gotten to a true horror movie was inSolo.
There are plenty of horrifying elementsStar Warscould one day use on-screen, from both canon andStar WarsLegends. Some of the most terrifying creatures and monsters inStar Wars, like the Death Troopers created by Project Blackwing, the Starweirds imprisoned inDoctor Aphra, and Abeloth, the Mother, are hidden in dark corners of the galaxy far, far away.TheStar Warsmovieshave never brought these terrifying creations to the screen, but that doesn’t mean they’ve never dabbled in horror films.Soloalready serves asStar Wars' first horror movie, but the true terror of it is hidden in a tragic droid.
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Solo: A Star Wars Story Already Did Star Wars Horror With L3-37
L3-37’s fate inSolois already the most terrifying horror storyStar Warscould ever tell. L3-37 was Lando Calrissian’s partner, co-pilot, and a droid who believed that organic life forms were enslaving droids.InSolo, L3-37 found her life’s great passion by freeing the droids that were imprisoned in the spice mines of Kessel, which led her to want to fight for droid rights on a galactic scale. Sadly, L3 was grievously wounded by blaster fire just after coming to that realization, and she powered down in Lando’s arms. Her story didn’t end in tragedy, though, it ended in abject horror.
After L3-37 died, the crew of theMillennium Falconneeded a way out of a dangerous part of hyperspace known as the Maw. L3 had an extremely advanced navigational database in her processing unit, so the crew plugged her into the ship and let her interface with its central computer. When it was done, Lando declared “she’s part of the ship now.“The horror of L3-37’s story is that just after realizing she wanted to champion droid liberation, she was put into her own special form of slavery and doomed to act as theMillennium Falcon’s computer indefinitely.
L3-37 had to watch herself be betrayed by the man she most nearly loved, Lando, and then she had to live on as the thing she hated most: a droid subjugated to humans.
L3-37’s integration with theMillennium Falconis so subtly bone-chilling. On the first watch ofSolo, it’s just a triumphant moment where L3 saves the heroes even after her death. Upon closer inspection, though, it’s revealed thatL3-37 had to watch herself be betrayed by the man she most nearly loved, Lando, and then she had to live on as the thing she hated most: a droid with no free will. It’s an incredibly compelling premise for an entire horror film, yet curiously, the only timeStar Warshas explored it was, again, unintentionally.
The Novelization Of Solo Only Makes L3-37’s Fate More Terrifying
The novelization ofSolotried to alleviate some of the horror of L3-37’s fate, but it only made it worse. As the novel explained, when L3 interfaced with theMillennium Falcon’s computer, she joined something called the Millennium Collective. Two other droids had interfaced with the ship’s computer in the past, and their consciousnesses had also been essentially absorbed by the computer and melded together into a single entity.When L3-37 joined the Millennium Collective, her identity also melded together with the two other droids, meaning all of her memories and personality were erased, and the ship essentially consumed her mind.
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The novelization ofSolofailed to undo the film’s decision to turn her into a slave aboard theMillennium Falcon, as she was still alive within the computer and still serving the ship’s pilots. Not only was L3 basically made into a slave, everything about her was erased.L3-37 suffered a fate worse than death: she was transformed into the perfect tool, an unfeeling instrument that was incapable of talking back, and the ultimate example of the subjugation of droids. Her life’s purpose was played for laughs, and she suffered an existential horrorStar Warshas never even come close to before or since.
The Fates Of Droids Are Almost Scarier Than Other Star Wars Horror Elements
The more overt examples of horror inStar Warsare certainly scary, but they’re nowhere near as terrifying as L3-37’s fate.Abeloth, the Starweirds, and Project Blackwing all fall into a fairly classic and understandable genre of horror. In essence, the biggest threat they all pose is in bodily harm or death - with the notable exception of Abeloth’s power to influence minds. L3-37’s fate, however, is an almost incomprehensible type of terror. It’s such a cruel and unusual fate that it’s almost hard to understand, and it only gets more petrifying as more thought is devoted to the concept.
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If the different types ofStar Warshorror were to be categorized, Abeloth and company would fall under the typical monster banner.L3-37 and the Millennium Collective, however, would be most similar to the unknowable cosmic horror of H.P. Lovecraft or the eternal torment present inI Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream. The worst thing that can happen to a human inStar Warsis death and pain. The worst thing that can happen to a droid is a fundamental transformation that dissolves their very essence and turns them into a line of programming forced to carry out their owner’s will indefinitely.
It’s hard to imagine a scarier story than L3-37’s fate in Solo: A Star Wars Story, and not a drop of blood was spilled.
Solocertainly isn’t a horror movie on the whole, since the true terror of L3-37’s integration with theMillennium Falconis fairly well hidden. That almost makes her fate even worse, though. L3 went through arguably one of the worst ordeals inStar Wars. She experienced a horror that’s barely comprehensible, andSoloplayed it as a triumphant moment. It seems completely unintentional, but the waySoloignored L3-37’s fate plays into the incomprehensible terror of her ordeal. It’s hard to imagine a scarier story than L3-37’s fate inSolo: A Star Wars Story, and not a drop of blood was spilled.
Solo: A Star Wars Story
Cast
Solo: A Star Wars Story explores the early adventures of Han Solo, showcasing his beginnings and key encounters with significant characters in the Star Wars universe. Set in a backdrop of galactic turmoil, the film delves into the origins of his famed relationships and his rise as a rebellious smuggler.
