Ron Howard Teases The Presence Of The Empire In Han Solo Spinoff

It looks like the Galactic Empire's going to be around in Lucasfilm's Han Solo spinoff.

Though Lucasfilm loves keeping its secrets close its chest, the studio's been loosening its hold on the production of its young Han Solo standalone ever since it decided to let go of the film's original directors, Phil Lord and Chris Miller.

Firing the two late into production over "creative differences" had destabilized the Star Wars community and a lot of fans were left worrying their heads over the spinoff. Now, to keep things under control, the studio's been letting Han Solo's new director share some intriguing set photos online, and the newest post shows an Imperial control panel.

Featuring an image of a helmet resting on top of an Imperial control panel, the post Howard made on Twitter has a caption reading"The Empire Looms Large," as if to tease the run-ins Alden Ehrenreich's Han Solo will have with the Empire.

Check it out down here:

While the Empire has been the primary villain of the original Star Wars trilogy, some fans were expecting a weaker Imperial presence in the Han Solo standalone knowing how Han Solo started out as a smuggler before joining the Rebellion. Still, it makes a whole lot of sense that we'll be seeing the Empire in the spinoff – after all, the Empire has control of most of the galaxy. The only question is how much of the Empire we'll be seeing and whether we'll get any run-ins with major Imperial characters. Let's wait and see.

Han Solo premieres May 25, 2018.

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