Lucasfilm Designers Created 29 More Concepts for the Millenium Falcon in Solo

There is hardly any more recognizable ship in the whole of the sci-fi universe than the Millenium Falcon. For Solo: A Star Wars story, Lucasfilm Design Supervisor, James Clyne, had to go back in time to imagine what the Falcon looked like before A New Hope. Clyne and his team ended up spinning off in nearly 60 directions before settling on the shiny new ship. StarWars.com went back to Clyne’s original sketches to shed light on his design process.

Before Han Solo and Chewbacca sat at the controls, Lando and L3 were the Falcon pilots. Over time, Han obviously imprinted his personality on the ship, and it saw some more dangerous scrapes over time.

One of the most noticeable differences right away was Clyne filling in that gap in the Falcon’s tail. In Solo, it is a solid piece, rather than two sections later on in the films.

“It always had that funny little gap in the front — the mandibles — and even as a kid, I remember getting the Millennium Falcon toy and I always wondered, why is it shaped this way? Was there something that was supposed to go there? Was there more to it? It was always kind of a mystery to me and here I am 40 years later actually having to solve that problem.”

StarWars.com shared Clyne’s original sketches. Some are immensely more varied than the ultimate product. Some look like cross-breeds with other Star Wars ships. Iterations range from quick speedsters inspired by muscle car mania to more sinister, heavily armed battle ships. Clyne and his team whittled down to the final design by following the script.

“For me, even though I deal in the world of design, I think story should be first and foremost,” Clyne told StarWars.com. “It’s our job to certainly service the story and not the other way around.”

Each design is totally unique and extremely imaginative. They each carry the soul of the Falcon in their own distinct way. With a little tweaking, these could each make awesome standalone ships. Here’s hoping they inspire design in future Star Wars films.

Featured Image: Millenium Falcon in Solo: A Star Wars Story. Courtesy: Walt Disney Studios