‘Solo: A Star Wars Story’ Contained Subtle River Phoenix Reference

Solo A Star Wars Story Han Solo Chewbacca

Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jon Kasdan has revealed the film contained an incredibly subtle River Phoenix and Indiana Jones reference.

Kasdan shared a long list of facts and trivia on Solo: A Star Wars Story, and among them the writer revealed that the film contained a subtle reference to River Phoenix, who portrayed a young Indiana Jones on Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade:

Han pulling the eel out of his pants was a nod to River Phoenix who worked with Lawrence Kasdan on I Love You to Death and was the first attempt at the daunting task of playing a younger version of an iconic Harrison Ford character.”

Han Solo is arguably one of the most iconic film characters ever, so when Alden Ehrenreich was tapped onto bringing a younger version of the character originally played by Harrison Ford, it looks like the crew of film decided to include the eel as a tongue-in-cheek homage to Phoenix.

Here are some more of the trivia shared by Kasdan:

What other references did you catch during Solo: A Star Wars Story? Sound off below!

The film stars Alden Ehrenreich, Woody Harrelson, Emilia Clarke, Donald Glover, Thandie Newton, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Joonas Suotamo, and Paul Bettany.

Board the Millennium Falcon and journey to a galaxy far, far away in “Solo: A Star Wars Story,” an all-new adventure with the most beloved scoundrel in the galaxy—Han Solo.

Solo: A Star Wars Story is currently available on Digital HD and will be released on 4k UHD and Blu-ray on September 25.