Star Wars | The Lost Stories: Val (Solo: A Star Wars Story)
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Annlyel James 
Annlyel explores the potential for future Star Wars adventures with Thandie Newton’s seriously underutilised outlaw…
Be honest, when Solo: A Star Wars Story was getting ready to premiere in theaters weren’t you a tad bit excited to see Val? She was in every trailer and nearly every commercial. Thandie Newton was talking up her character immensely and displaying how proud she was to be one of the few black women to star in a Star Wars movie. She seemed to be a character that was going to make an impact on the film and provide me so much happiness.
When I watched Solo for the first time I couldn’t wait to meet her character and determine if I’d really enjoy her or not. Sure enough, I did, and that’s what made it all the more heartbreaking when she was killed out of the movie about twenty minutes after she first came into the film. I was utterly shocked. So much hype had surrounded Val’s character and it lived up to absolutely nothing. Thankfully the movie was perfectly fine without her because then I would’ve really been upset.
Val is, in my opinion, one of the coolest characters to appear in this massive franchise but unfortunately, she was killed off before we got a chance to truly understand and appreciate her character. She deserved a better fate than what she was given but I think that can be resolved with a simple novel. It doesn’t even have to be solely about her. It can be a book focused on the crew of smugglers she was affiliated with; Tobias Beckett, Rio, and I think there was another guy. Then we can get a greater insight into her story and that’s all I’m hoping for.
Would you like to see more adventures involving Val? Drop us a line in the comments section…
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Annlyel James is a Senior Correspondent of The Future of the Force. She is passionate about Star Wars and Marvel but loves a wide variety of movie genres. Aside from her role with Future of the Force she also writes for her blog: annlyelonline. Follow her on Twitter where she channels the Force frequently!
