No one can compete with the swagger of Harrison Ford. It goes without saying that his portrayal of everyone’s favorite smuggler is iconic. Whether he was blasting Greedo or affirming a woman’s love for him by simply uttering “I know…” Han Solo epitomized the swashbuckling aspect of Star Wars. An aspect that has been cemented in nostalgia and generational angst for forty or so years. It would take a truly courageous actor to take on the role of Han Solo in the wake of Harrison Ford’s lightsaber to the gut departure—or it would take Alden Ehrenreich.
He did alright; to be fair, Solo: A Star Wars Story was an enjoyable film. With a solid script, charming cast (Donald Glover killing it as Lando) and decent execution; you can’t hate it. Ehrenreich succeeds as a Han Solo all his own, he doesn’t try to be Harrison Ford because you can’t. Still, it didn’t meet the expectations of Star Wars fans and Ehrenreich has basically been unemployed ever since. Until now. In an article on Deadline‘s website, it was reported that Alden Ehrenreich is set to play the lead role in a series adaption of Aldous Huxley’s novel, Brave New World.
The series has been attached to various networks over the course of the past few months but is now apparently going to be a flagship series for the upcoming NBCU streaming platform, set to launch in 2020. The series is being written and developed by David Wiener (Fear the Walking Dead), Grant Morrison, and Brian Taylor and is aforementioned based on Huxley’s groundbreaking novel, Brave New World—the story of a dystopian (or *spoiler alert* failed utopia) society which is basically the result of a lack of individuality or identity. Kind of like an actor being held hostage to his shortcomings as Han Solo…
The novel’s synopsis is as follows (via Goodreads):
Brave New World is a dystopian novel written in 1931 by English author Aldous Huxley and published in 1932. Largely set in a futuristic World State of genetically modified citizens and an intelligence-based social hierarchy, the novel anticipates huge scientific developments in reproductive technology, sleep-learning, psychological manipulation, and classical conditioning that are combined to make a utopian society that goes challenged only by a single outsider.
Ehrenreich will play John the Savage, a man who lives outside of the system and drives society towards its “corruption.” It will be interesting to see what Brave New World‘s quasi-timeless themes say about contemporary society; the series is rumored to take place in 2054 as opposed to 1932. The series will run ten episodes with Owen Harris (Black Mirror) set to direct at least one episode. Expect some trippy shit.
Featured Image Via Independent.co.uk
