The 11 Most Important Easter Eggs From Solo: A Star Wars Story

While Solo: A Star Wars Story is chock-full of references to the Star Wars universe at large, some — such as Han's dice or that unexpected cameo (you know the one) — are meant to stand out more than others. After picking through the film with a fine-toothed comb, we've rounded up a few of the more obscure Easter eggs that even some fans may have missed. Take a look!

Warning: Spoilers for the entirety of Solo (and references to Disney's expanded universe) follow!

01
That Sounds Familiar . . .
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That Sounds Familiar . . .

When Han is trying to flee Corellia, he finds himself in an Imperial Army recruitment center playing a tune known in-universe as "Glory of the Empire." It may sound familiar to you because it's actually Star Wars composer John Willams's own "Imperial March," but played in a major key. This song was famously introduced in The Empire Strikes Back and continues to be one of the most iconic tunes of the entire franchise.

02
VCX-100
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VCX-100

While playing his first game of sabacc with Lando, Han puts his fictional VCX-100 model ship up as a bid to try to win the Falcon. The VCX-100 is a light freighter of Corellian design, and it happens to be the same type of ship that the main characters in Star Wars Rebels pilot. Called the Ghost, that VCX-100 was piloted by Hera Syndulla, who had her own quick Easter egg in Rogue One.

03
Calling in Bossk For the Job
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Calling in Bossk For the Job

During preparations for the train heist, Val asks Beckett why they didn't hire someone more experienced like Bossk instead of bring along the unproven Han and Chewie. Bossk is of the reptilian race known as Trandoshans and makes his Star Wars debut in The Empire Strikes Back as one of the bounty hunters hired by Darth Vader to track down the Millennium Falcon.

He gets more screen time in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, where he acts as a mentor for the young Boba Fett and works frequently with other bounty hunters such as Aurra Sing.

04
Aurra Sing Meets Her Demise
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Aurra Sing Meets Her Demise

Speaking of Aurra Sing, she also gets a brief call-out in Solo.

While talking with Beckett, Lando thanks him for ridding the galaxy of her and is willing to cut a "special deal" as thanks. In response, Beckett suggests that he didn't so much kill Sing as he pushed her . . . and let the fall do the actual deed. While Aurra Sing is first introduced in The Phantom Menace, she only appears in a blink-and-you'll-miss-it moment during the pod racing scene. Her story is also expanded upon during Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

05
Dryden's Artifacts
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Dryden's Artifacts

Dryden Vos's office aboard his yacht holds several references for eagle-eyed viewers.

First off, a set of nearly complete Mandalorian armor (the same type worn by Boba Fett) hangs on a display. Also in the background is the golden fertility idol from the beginning of Harrison Ford's other iconic movie, Raiders of the Lost Ark. Additionally, a crystal skull is featured prominently in many of the office shots. While this could be a reference to Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, it could also easily be a nod to the classic book Han Solo and the Lost Legacy, which features a large crystal skull on the cover.

06
Lando's Grand Adventure
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Lando's Grand Adventure

Another nod to a classic "Legends" novel takes place when Lando is seen in the Falcon recording himself narrating an adventure he embarked on with a woman named Sharu. Written by L. Neil Smith, Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu was published in 1983 and the first in a trilogy of Lando-centric novels that helped to first introduce the game of sabacc into the Star Wars universe.

07
L3-37's dialect is L337
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L3-37's dialect is L337

Breakout character L3-37 stole the hearts of fans with her sassy dialogue and mission for equal droid rights. This makes it all the more devastating when she is gunned down during the escape on Kessel and in a final moment of desperation, Lando uploads her AI into the Falcon. It's her assistance that ends up helping the crew make the Kessel Run in 12 parsecs (if you round down).

This adds a whole new way to look at C-3PO's line from The Empire Strikes Back about how the Falcon's computer has an "odd dialect."

Her name is also a reference to "Leetspeak," a form of writing on the internet that replaces certain letters with alternative numbers or characters. Her name in particular is short for "Leet," which itself stands for "elite."

08
New Spins on Classic Lines
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New Spins on Classic Lines

Solo includes a couple of famous Star Wars lines but with minor changes that fans are sure to notice.

At one point, Lando yells to Han, "I hate you," to which Han replies, "I know." This is obviously a play on the iconic scene from The Empire Strikes Back where Princess Leia confesses "I love you" to Han moments before he's frozen in carbonite, to which Han also responds, "I know."

Additionally, the line "I've got a bad feeling about this" is uttered in one form or another in every Star Wars film and several other Lucasfilm projects, but in Solo, Han turns this on its head, claiming that he's got "a really good feeling about this".

09
Familiar Disguise
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Familiar Disguise

The outfit Beckett wears while infiltrating the mines of Kessel may look familiar to you. That's because it's the same disguise donned by Lando in The Return of the Jedi during the rescue mission to save Han from Jabba's Palace. It doesn't appear that Lando has the same variety in costumes as he does capes.

10
Let the Wookiee Win
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Let the Wookiee Win

Everyone knows that it's not a smart idea to upset a Wookiee, but we get to see Chewbacca in action when he tears off the arms of a Pyke Syndicate guard on Kessel. We are first made aware of this behavior in the original Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope when C-3PO is beating Chewie in a game of Dejarik (space chess) and Han and C-3PO have the following exchange:

Han: "Let him have it. It's not wise to upset a Wookiee."
C-3PO: "But sir, nobody worries about upsetting a droid."
Han: "That's 'cause a droid don't pull people's arms out of their sockets when they lose. Wookiees are known to do that."

11
Han Shot First
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Han Shot First

After Han confronts Beckett shortly after being betrayed, he guns Beckett down before giving him the opportunity for a more Western-style duel. This is a big character-growth moment for Han, but also acts as a meta reference to a scene from Star Wars: Episode IV — A New Hope.

In the original 1977 cut of the film, after being confronted by the bounty hunter Greedo, Han slowly draws his blaster and unexpectedly shoots him dead under the table. One of the more controversial changes made to the 1997 special edition of A New Hope was a slightly different take on this particular encounter.

In an effort to make Han look less like a ruthless killer, several frames were added that make it appear like Greedo shoots at Han and Han only fires back in self-defense. This was changed yet again in 2004 when the scene was altered to make it look like they fire at the same time and Han dodges the shot. In Solo, however, Han is the definitive one to shoot first when threatened.