Here Are 20 Actors Who Could Play Han Solo (And One Who Shouldn't)

With news surfacing that The LEGO Movie and 21 Jump Street directors Phil Lord & Chris Miller will be at the helm of a new Star Wars Anthology film focusing on a young Han Solo, everyone is wondering just who will play the charismatic smuggler.

Harrison Ford made the role iconic in the original Star Wars trilogy, and he'll be reprising the role in The Force Awakens. But Ford can't play a young version of the character without extensive visual effects, so some younger actor is going to have to get in the cockpit of the Millennium Falcon. The question is who can pull it off?

We've rounded up some possibilities, some likely, some not, and some more preferable than others. Check out our list of 20 Actors Who Should Play Han Solo after the jump!

Let's just get this one out of the way now. Honestly, Pratt is probably a little too busy to pull this off, but there are undoubtedly plenty of fans who would love to see him take on this character. I'm hesitant to say that it would be a smart move, since Star-Lord from Guardians of the Galaxy is already a little Han Solo, and so is Owen Grady in Jurassic World. Pratt's also been rumored to play Indiana Jones in the future, too, and that just might be too much for Pratt to add Han Solo into the mix.

Again, here's an actor who just might be out of the age range that Lucasfilm may want for a Han Solo spin-off, but he could make for a decent charismatic, cocky smuggler. But much like Chris Pratt, his Captain Kirk in Star Trek has some Han Solo traits, so this might just be a little too similar to what Pine has already accomplished in sci-fi for it to be a good casting decision.

Hot off a fantastic breakthrough performance in Kingsman: The Secret Service, this Welsh actor is prime for a major franchise role, and Han Solo just might do the trick. Egerton shows a lot of promise for a flourishing career, and taking a role in Star Wars would be huge. In Kingsman, Egerton showed that he can handle action, has the right attitude, and makes for a believable hero. He seems to have a little scoundrel in him too.

After already giving a commendable turn as a young Bruce Willis in Looper, maybe it's time to see if he can pull of a young Harrison Ford as well. Gordon-Levitt has proven to be a very talented young actor, but so far his only franchise role was a supporting turn in The Dark Knight Rises (we're trying to forget about G.I. Joe: Rise of Cobra). And since we never got to see him realized as the replacement hero of Gotham, this would be a good follow-up.

While I admit his acting chops aren't exactly up to par with many of the names on this list, he does have that young leading man look that Hollywood goes crazy for. Sadly his turn in TRON Legacy didn't do him any favors, and Pan doesn't look like it's going to have much of an impact either. But that doesn't mean that he's not a viable candidate for the role, whether fans actually want to see him as Han Solo or not.

You may not think much of Ansel Elgort since he's best known for a role in the sappy romance The Fault in Our Stars, but I have a feeling our perception of the young actor will change once we see him in Edgar Wright's next project Baby Driver. He's even got a similar look to a young Harrison Ford, right down to the slightly lanky physique.

The rising star did a good job in the indie sci-fi flick The Signal, and since then he's taken on the underwhelming adaptation of The Giver, and a supporting role in Maleficent. But in 2017, he'll get a big boost from Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales. If he impresses the right people at Disney, taking a role as Han Solo could be in his future. He's the right age, and he's another actor who has some similar features to a young Harrison Ford.

Since Han Solo is a bit of a cocky pilot, who better than Miles Teller to tell more of the smuggler's story? Teller has risen to fame rather quickly over the past few years, leading the Oscar-nominated Whiplash, leading fantastic indies like The Spectacular Now and also landing a lead franchise role in Fantastic Four. I'm not entirely convinced that he'd fit the role all that well, but surely he'll be on a shortlist at some point.

Even though he hasn't been given much to do in The Hunger Games franchise, Liam Hemsworth is about to see plenty of action in Independence Day: Resurgence. It'll be some good training for piloting the Millennium Falcon, but we'll have to wait until we see the sci-fi sequel to see if he has the screen presence and charisma to play Han Solo. He's certainly got that handsome part locked down.

He's the son of Dirty Harry, and he just got done charming the hell out of Britt Robertson in The Longest Ride. But it remains to be seen if he's got the chops to take on a blockbuster. Eastwood will have a supporting role in Suicide Squad, so maybe this could be the start of a much bigger career for him. He certainly has some work to do in order to get out from under the shadow of his father.

We already know there's a little Beast in Nicholas Hoult, but what about scruffy-looking nerfherder? Jack the Giant Slayer didn't really pan out for Hoult, but the actor has proven that he's fine in the franchise department in the X-Men prequel films, not to mention his wild role in Mad Max: Fury Road. If you need some more convincing that Hoult could be great as Han Solo, I'd recommend seeing Young Ones.

A fan favorite of The Hunger Games franchise, Claflin is a pretty dashing young man with the right attitude to bring Han Solo to life. It feels like we've only gotten a taste of what he can do as an actor. The only snag might be that Claflin was rumored for a role in Star Wars: Rogue One, so he might already be involved in a galaxy far, far away.

The actor has actively avoided any franchise roles, but if there's one major role that would be perfect for Gosling, it's Han Solo. For some reason I feel like if you combined his character from Crazy Stupid Love with his character from Drive that you'd have a great blend of Han Solo. That sounds crazy just writing it down, but I think you know what I mean.

For some reason, this guy still has his haters from his High School Musical days, but I think Zaf Efron has proven himself to be quite the talented actor both in comedy and drama. Efron has yet to venture into action territory though, so we're not sure how he'd fare in the Star Wars universe. But he's certainly got the magnetism to take on the role of Han Solo.

Here's another forthcoming superhero on the verge of greatness. Jamie Bell has taken some key roles in films like King Kong, Jumper and Snowpiercer, not to mention the motion-capture lead in The Adventures of Tintin, but he's yet to catch on as a big star. That could change after he plays The Thing in Fantastic Four, but Bell really deserves a role like Han Solo to show audiences what he can really do.

Undoubtedly plenty are going to pitch a fit about this selection, but I stand by the fact that Robert Pattinson is an extremely talented actor, and the sooner we all forget about The Twilight Saga, the better we'll all be. Pattinson had a shortlived role in the Harry Potter universe, and he's yet to return to blockbuster territory since playing a sparkly vampire, so he might not be keen on a role in Star Wars, but I've got the sneaking suspicion that he could pull of Han Solo pretty well.

This actor has been mostly under the radar, starring in lower key releases like Tetro, Stoker and Blue Jasmine, but he did take a stab at young adult territory with Beautiful Creatures. Since that's a franchise that doesn't look like it'll be continuing, he's wide open for a major role in something like Star Wars. If you're not familiar with Ehrenreich, I'd recommend starting with Tetro. We'll also get to see what else we can do in the Coen Bothers' Hail Caesar.

One of the other leading men of The Hunger Games franchise, Hutcherson seems to have the most natural charm in the young adult franchise. However, it's not clear if he can lead a movie yet, so banking on Hutcherson for a property as big as this may not be the wisest choice right now. But he does have quite a following thanks to The Hunger Games, so he's likely got appeal to the studio.

Fresh of playing Disney's latest live-action prince in Cinderella, the former King of the North has a solid relationship with Disney. Game of Thrones was the best display of his ability to be a leader, but without being an obvious good guy. He saw limited action in the fantasy series, so we've yet to see how he works as a hero, but if there's any time to prove it, it's now.

It's more than likely you've never even heard of this guy, but he just got done pulling off an eerily accurate portrayal of a young Harrison Ford in The Age of Adaline. Honestly, it's a very stirring but brief role that really made me thing that he could pull off young Han Solo. The only downside is this comes from brief scenes, and impersonating Harrison Ford isn't all it takes to be Han Solo. But I think he at least deserves a crack at the job, especially after seeing this video of him acting like Han Solo.

Finally, of all the actors who could take this job, there's one who would be an absolute disaster. Hollywood has been trying to make Jai Courtney happen for a while, but he's not sticking. While I will say he doesn't seem terrible in the brief footage from Suicide Squad (with his native Aussie accent), I hope producers take another chance on Courtney when the stakes are so high. After starring in blockbusters like Divergent, A Good Day to Die Hard and now Terminator: Genisys, it's clear that he's completely forgettable, bland and does not have what it takes to play Han Solo. I'm fine with giving him a chance to find the role that actually works (maybe it's Suicide Squad), but it simply shouldn't be someone as iconic as Han Solo.

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And that's it for the young stars that could easily be up for the role of Han Solo in the forthcoming Star Wars Anthology movie. Again, we're not campaigning or even approving some of these names, but merely pointing out that some of them could be in the running for the role of Han solo. Since the movie doesn't come out until 2018, we likely won't get word on casting for the movie until next year at the earliest, so we'll just have to wait patiently to see what happens.

Is there anyone else you think could or should play Han Solo?