'Star Wars': 7 Things You (Probably) Didn't Know About Han Solo

Who doesn't love Han Solo?

In a film franchise full of people who can levitate objects and slice things in half with laser swords, he's still the coolest guy in the galaxy. And with "The Force Awakens" marking his return to the big screen, we'll finally learn what Han has been up to since helping the Rebel Alliance blow up the Death Star almost 40 years ago.

To help fill these last, painful days of waiting, here are seven fun facts you might not know about everyone's favorite scruffy-looking nerf herder.

1. He wasn't always human
Early on in the development of "Star Wars," George Lucas envisioned Han as a green-skinned, amphibious alien who looked more than a little bit like the DC Comics character Swamp Thing. It's probably for the best that Lucas opted for a less ambitious approach.

2. Solo owes (some of) his origins to Francis Ford Coppola
If you're wondering where Han Solo got his trademark charm and cocky personality, you can credit that to the man behind the "Godfather" trilogy. Lucas worked with Coppola on the set of "Apocalypse Now" and wound up channeling the experience into his evolving "Star Wars" script.

3. Billy Dee Williams almost got the part
It's a well-known fact that Lucas considered a number of actors for the part of Han. But did you know that one of those actors was the future Lando Calrissian himself? It's tough to imagine Han with even more swagger, but Billy Dee just might have pulled it off.

4. Han made a cameo in "Firefly"
Nathan Fillion's Mal Reynolds may be a chip off the old space smuggler block, but Han himself technically appeared several times during the course of "Firefly's" brief run. The producers hid a model of Han frozen in carbonite in several scenes as a way of paying homage to "Star Wars" and its influence.

5. Solo's most famous line was ad-libbed
Harrison Ford is said to have told George Lucas, "George, you can type this s**t, but you sure as hell can't say it." And when it came time for Han and Leia to say their farewells in "Empire Strikes Back," Ford ad-libbed what would become one of the most iconic lines in Hollywood history, "I know."

6. Solo almost appeared in "Episode III"
An early draft of the script for "Revenge of the Sith" had a young Han living among the Wookiees on Kashyyk (above). That element was cut from the final version, and we'll probably have to wait until the 2019 Han Solo film to learn the official account of how Han and Chewie first crossed paths.

7. He met Indiana Jones (kind of)
The out-of-continuity comic series "Star Wars Tales" featured a story called "Into the Great Unknown," where Han and Chewie crash land on Earth in the Pacific Northwest. Han is killed by the local Indian tribe, while Chewie becomes the basis of the legend of Sasquatch. Over a century later, Han's corpse is discovered by none other than Indiana Jones and Short Round.

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