James Volpe continues the theme of the space cowboy, Han Solo, and what might be seen in the upcoming Solo: A Star Wars Story in this edition of the RetroZap Artist Series.
I have spoken about my desire to see Boba Fett make an appearance but two characters I think will fit into this western-style heist film are the bounty hunters Cad Bane and Embo. I can definitely see them running into Han Solo. So I decided to follow Kendall Schroeder’s lead from his Artist Series and create my own spaghetti-western-style movie poster based on the movie A Fistful of Dollars.
There has been a lot of specualtion on what suprises will be in the new Star Wars film. I personally want to see more of the hive of scum and villany. Han Solo worked in the underworld so there is a definite possibility the rogues gallery will show up in this installment of the stand alone movies.
Republic Credits? Credits are no good here. I need something more real.
The poster was started with the heroes: Han, Qi’Ra and Lando from the Solo promotional posters, stills from the trailer and other source materials.
Next, I added the Falcon taking off in the background. Then I added the villains; rumored “Dryden Vos” whom is actually in the film, Cad Bane and Embo.
There were some challenges involved. I couldn’t find a full body shot of new Han so I added Alden Ehrenreich‘s head to old man Han’s body. Qi’Ra took a little work considering the hole in her face and missing torso. Lastly, Cad Bane was missing parts to his guns.
Each of these photos was manipulated in Photoshop with the aptly named filter – Posterize. This reduces the colors so the monotone color scheme I wanted can be achieved.
From there I added a darker highlight to make the characters pop.
The background is from the Ralph McQuarrie concept painting of Tatooine with Luke cropped out for a Western style desert.
The end result is the epic story of how Han Solo became the likable scruffy looking nerf herder we know and love.
Anything can happen in the wilds of space. Star Wars has plenty surprises left in it. I am excited to see all these characters in action after seeing the trailer.
James Volpe, aka The Ska Geek, is a life-long child of the Force. Born just before Star Wars hit the theaters, he first saw Star Wars and Empire Strikes Back at a drive-in double feature in 1980 as his first silver screen experience. Ever since then, Star Wars has been part of his life and inspires his art work and graphic design. His art work can be seen on the RetroZap network: Brews and Blasters logos, Ki Adi Monday shirts and promo video, Starships, Sabers and Scoundrels banner and various others. His podcast, The SKA GEEK Podcast, combines his two favorite things, being a geek and listening to ska music. Find him on twitter,, facebook and his website.