Is Han Solo Force Sensitive? An Investigation

In Star Wars fandom, there's a whole galaxy of outrageous fan theories, driven by love, passion, and often a desire to see ourselves reflected on the screen. Much of the time, these theories derive from fans who adore the source material so much that they watch it over and over again, building their own legend and lore within the confines of their own minds. Decades between Star Wars trilogies have encouraged these speculative stories, especially with the wild world of the late Star Wars expanded universe, which added fuel to many a fan fire.

With Star Wars: The Last Jedi now in theaters, it's time to explore one of the fan theories most dear to my heart, one that changes the face of the franchise and is honestly probably not true at all. But boy, is it fun to think about!

Is everyone's favorite rogue smuggler and space cowboy Han Solo actually Force sensitive? Let's investigate (and not take this too seriously).

Han Solo is one of the best at what he does. From his introduction in A New Hope, it's established that he's an accomplished pilot who's flown "from one side of the galaxy to the other." In a universe filled with people piloting spaceships, this may seem like it's not a huge deal. But when we look at other Force users and their connection to flying, it starts to look like maybe there's a little more to this scruffy nerf herder than meets the eye.

Both Anakin and Luke's powerful Force sensitivity are often highlighted by their skills as pilots. From Anakin's childhood penchant for podracing to Luke's immediate admittance to the Rebel Alliance after telling a story about shooting womp rats on his speeder, there's something about being good at slicing through space that hints at a talent for the Force. If we're to take this most tangential tease of how the Force manifests and run with it, surely that would mean Han Solo is, at the very least, an unconscious Force user.

Orphaned as a child, Han Solo was something of an intergalactic lost boy, taking up a life of crime to survive. At a young age, Han got his hands on a starship and quickly became a fantastic pilot. Doesn't that sound surprisingly similar to young Anakin and Luke? Fatherless (born of the Force) and left on a distant planet with only his wits and talents as an engineer and pilot to save him...

In the vast world of Star Wars, there are thousands of species, languages, and alien races. As with any good speculative fiction, the technology represents the cultural landscape, meaning that most of the human characters in Star Wars can use of high tech translators to communicate with aliens who don't speak Galactic Basic. I say most because guess who can communicate completely translator free? You guessed it: Han mother-porging Solo!

Han's best friend is the lusciously-locked Wookiee, Chewbacca, and the two of them clearly have no problem communicating. That's easily explained away as Han has just been thoughtful enough to learn the Thykarann dialect of Shyriiwook, the native language of Kashyyyk. But how do we explain Han's ability to talk to all of the other alien creatures he regularly interacts with? When Han speaks to Jabba the Hutt, he never needs a translator to understand him. Jabba never seems to need one to understand Han whereas Leia, Luke, and Lando all have to use translators to interact with the great space slug! Maybe it's just tough for people whose names begin with the letter L...or maybe Han's close proximity to the Force manifests itself in a sort of telepathy, one that enables him to understand the thoughts, speech, and wants of any and all of the galaxy's (non-droid) creatures!

It's not just Jabba either. When Han meets with Greedo in the Mos Eisley cantina, he clearly understands the green alien's dulcet tones without the use of any kind of translator. If we're being sensible, I suppose we could just say that Han is a very smart student of linguistics. But maybe, just maybe, it's another sign that Solo is actually a secret Force user.

How many times does the Millenium Falcon get called a piece of junk? Hint: IT'S A LOT! From the first moment that Luke insults the famous freighter, it's clearly established that the Falcon really shouldn't be functioning as well as it does. It's easy to look at the Falcon and think that these are just playful jibes about the exterior and interior scruffy-ness of the modified Corellian YT-1300 light freighter. However, this might be another piece of the puzzle when it comes to Han and his potential Force powers.

Though Disney de-canonized the EU stories and created a slimmed down version of the accepted Star Wars canon – overseen by the wonderful Pablo Hidalgo, who doesn't love my constant and outrageous fan theories, sorry Pablo – there's much in EU history that alludes to Han being the only person who can truly control the Falcon. The ship has a distinctly muddy reputation and is referred to as serviceable at best, whereas Han obviously pilots the ship as if it's a finely tuned machine.

Historically, there have been instances of Force users making ships work and controlling them using the Force *cough Anakin cough Luke cough*. It looks like Han is another person with some seriously special skills. In mainstream Star Wars canon, the Falcon bounced around a bit before it was acquired by Lando Calrissian, who stripped it down and amped it up. But it wasn't until Han won the ship from Lando in a game of sabacc that it became the truly iconic vehicle it is today. Also, not to get too outlandish here [editor's note: too late], but could that be why the Falcon sat useless in Ungar Plutt's junkyard until Rey and Finn came along, as at least one of them is very strong with the Force?

In his own words, Han is incredibly good at "talking his way out of" bad situations. But what if it's not just his silver tongued ways that often save his skin but actually some latent Jedi mind tricks bubbling beneath the surface? Now you might be thinking '"come on, you're really pushing it now!" But stick with me because this is actually one of the more solid parts of this particular theory.

During his interactions with Jabba in Return of the Jedi, Han manages to somehow go from a death sentence in the sarlacc pit to the crosshairs of Jabba's beloved bounty hunter, Boba Fett, and still manages to survive. Let's also note that he does all of this whilst he's still temporarily blinded from being frozen in carbonite. Oh, and just a small note but if you pay attention whilst he's talking to Jabba in the palace, he definitely waves his hand in front of Jabba's ugly mug. I'm not saying that Han's Jedi mind tricking Jabba...but he's totally Jedi mind tricking Jabba.

The infamous scene in which Han shoots Greedo (first) in A New Hope is another good moment to explore, as once again he "talks" his way out of what should be a fatal situation. Hilariously, George Lucas' much-maligned reissues of the movies add even more fuel to this fire, because when Han is talking to Greedo he waves his hand in front of the wall, in exactly the place where Greedo shoots him and misses. A coincidence? I think not!

It's tough to know where you're going in the galaxy. It's a massive landscape that's ever growing and constantly changing – what with all the planets being blown up – but Han always manages to find himself in the right place at the right time. Luke Skywalker would likely be dead if it wasn't for Han's unbelievable knack for accidentally stumbling upon epic, life changing moments and battles throughout the saga. But what if it wasn't a series of outlandish coincidences, but rather the Force guiding him towards exactly where he needs to be?

During the climactic battle in the third act of A New Hope, all hope – pun intended – appears to be lost as Luke faces down his deadbeat dad, Darth Vader. Luckily for Luke, Han has a change of heart after leaving the Rebels and returns, happening to stumble upon the pair and saving Luke's life. This allows the fledgling Jedi to lead the bombardment on the Death Star and save the day. Now, if it was just the one time then you might write it off as chance, but that's by no means the only time Han's "luck" has helped save the day.

Remember when Luke just happened to be stuck on the frozen wastelands of Hoth? And Han just happens to ride out into the icy wilds and find him? That seems like an unlikely happenstance. Maybe Han is actually some kind of Force guardian, someone who uses the Force to help save others. This isn't just reserved for the original trilogy either. When Rey and Finn steal the Millennium Falcon, Han suddenly finds them at an advantageous time, somehow saving our young heroes from the wild rathtars, the wrath of Kanjiklub, and the Guavian Death Gang too. Ockham's razor, guys... sometimes the simplest answer is the right one. In a world where the Force exists, wouldn't it make far more sense that this lucky hero just happens to be connected to the magical energy that guides people? Rather than it just being a whole lot of coincidences, that is.

The final point is really the cherry on this delectable Force-filled cake. That sweet and juicy maraschino is Han's constant personal philosophy of "luck." We all know that Han Solo never wants us to tell him the odds, which makes sense seeing as the odds mean nothing to a man who knows he's almost always going to beat them. When Obi-Wan is explaining the Force to Han and Luke in A New Hope, Han responds with "I just call that luck." Maybe this is less of an admission of disbelief and more a statement of intent. Maybe Han's sensitivity has never been explained to him before, and he's always just thought of it as luck.

Han's also the king of "bad feelings." He's always aware of when something might go wrong, and guess what Force fans... he's usually right! From the garbage compactor on the Death Star to the corridors of his beloved freighter, Han's gut is rarely wrong.

Now, of course, none of this is conclusive proof of Han's potential Force powers. Maybe his death in The Force Awakens was an unforeseen tragedy, or maybe Han sensed that it was necessary to begin his son's redemption. And who knows:  if we reeeeeally push it here, we might even see Han return as a Force ghost at some point in the new trilogy [editor's note: no, why are you doing this me, Rosie, why]. Of course, this is just a fan waxing lyrical about her favorite films. We're in no way stating that there's any truth to this radical romp... but wouldn't it be cool if the Force truly was with Han Solo?