Star Wars: The Last Jedi includes a hidden tribute to Han Solo

Star Wars The Last Jedi Easter egg
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

A brilliant Han Solo Easter egg in Star Wars: The Last Jedi has re-emerged thanks to a social media post and a reply from director Rian Johnson.

The opening of the second movie in the Star Wars sequel trilogy sees the Resistance taking the fight to the First Order and its flagship dreadnought. Among the attacks is a large-scale bombing run. On one of the bombs, an alien language is written. Its message? “Han says hi.” It’s something that has sporadically been brought up in the past but has found new prominence thanks to CorellianBlue on Twitter.

After – spoilers – being killed off in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Harrison Ford’s Han Solo skipped The Last Jedi and returned as a “memory” conjured up by Leia to confront Kylo Ren in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.

Now we know that the lovable smuggler at least had some presence in The Last Jedi. Rian Johnson even responded with a Han Solo salute of his own to the eagle-eyed fan.

Whatever your opinion on the Star Wars sequels, it was inarguably fantastic in the fan service department. The Force Awakens kicked things off with an Easter egg-strewn vision for Rey, while Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had more Easter eggs than you could shake a lightsaber at. The Mandalorian has continued this tradition with nods to the prequels and even scrapped creature designs from The Empire Strikes Back showing up.

In the case of The Last Jedi, it’s a cheeky Han Solo message that gets its chance to shine. Bombs away.

Find out what’s coming next in a galaxy far, far away with our guide to upcoming Star Wars movies.

Bradley Russell

I'm the Senior Entertainment Writer here at 12DOVE, focusing on news, features, and interviews with some of the biggest names in film and TV. On-site, you'll find me marveling at Marvel and providing analysis and room temperature takes on the newest films, Star Wars and, of course, anime. Outside of GR, I love getting lost in a good 100-hour JRPG, Warzone, and kicking back on the (virtual) field with Football Manager. My work has also been featured in OPM, FourFourTwo, and Game Revolution.