'Star Wars' writer reveals Han Solo spinoff details

The loveable rogue, played by Harrison Ford in the movies thus far, is a fan favourite - possibly the most popular character in the series - and messing with his back story could seriously anger die-hard Star Wars fans.

While the cast is yet to be announced, directors Christopher Miller and Phil Lord - the brains behind The Lego Movie - are already attached.

Thanks to writer Lawrence Kasdan, who has long worked on the Star Wars franchise, we now know we will be meeting a young Han Solo, roughly 10 years before the events A New Hope.

"It will not be, 'Here's where he was born and this is how he was raised.' I think what it will be is what was he like 10 years earlier-maybe a little earlier, you'll get a glimpse. And Harrison embodies in Force Awakens someone who is still not settled on who he is", Kasdan said.

The Han Solo standalone film won't be the smuggler's origin story, but will look at what the character was up to before he joined the rebellion. While fans have roundly speculated that the spin-off will show Solo as a young man, Kasdan seemed to quash those rumors, instead suggesting that the movie will address a character that never quite reaches a stage of being fully formed. Lucasfilm revealed to him the other stories they wanted to produce in the Star Wars universe, and according to Kasdan, the Han Solo movie stood out to him, largely due to his affinity for the character.

Officially, Lucasfilm originally explained the story of the Anthology film "focuses on how young Han Solo became the smuggler, theif, and scoundrel whom Luke Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi first encountered in the cantina on Mos Eisley".