Ovan
Ovan, a male human, was the father of the famous rebel and smuggler Han Solo, and the grandfather of Ben Solo. He resided in Corellia during Han's childhood and worked in the shipyards of the Corellian Engineering Corporation, constructing ships like the YT-1300 light freighters. Although Han's father desired to leave Corellia on one of the ships he built, he never had the means to do so. Han recalled his father's tale to Landonis Balthazar Calrissian and stated that they were not close. During one occasion, Ovan took Han to the factory where he worked and shared that the ships he helped create had little importance in the grand scheme of things. He advised Han that his destiny was not to build ships but to fly them. Sometime later, Ovan left Han when he was still young.
Between 8 BBY and 2 BBY, Corbus Tyra, a criminal, assumed Ovan's identity to obtain an urn with the ashes of Krestrel D'Naran for Jabba Desilijic Tiure. Jabba had hired Han to retrieve the urn.
Behind the scenes
The character Ovan was indirectly referenced in the 2015 reference book Ultimate Star Wars before being identified in the comic miniseries Star Wars: Han Solo & Chewbacca, written by Marc Guggenheim and published on March 9, 2022. In the second issue of the series, published on May 18, 2022, Ovan appeared for the first time in a flashback. In Star Wars Legends, Ovan was known as Jonash Solo.
The character's fate is inconsistent across various sources. The 2015 and 2019 editions of Ultimate Star Wars suggest that Han was orphaned, implying that Ovan had passed away. However, Mur Lafferty's Solo: A Star Wars Story novelization reveals that Ovan left Han instead.
The backstory of Solo's relationship with his father in the 2018 film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, was partly inspired by Bruce Springsteen's autobiography, Born to Run. According to writers Jon and Lawrence Kasdan, they read the book while working on the film's script. In a tweet, Jon Kasdan stated his belief that Han ran away from his father, who is still alive somewhere, drinking himself to death.
Sources
- Ultimate Star Wars
- Ultimate Star Wars, New Edition
