"Star Wars" spin-off films reportedly to center on Han Solo and Boba Fett

Soon after Walt Disney Co. CEO Bob Iger confirmed Tuesday that screenwriters Larry Kasdan and Simon Kinberg are working on stand-alone “Star Wars” movies that aren’t part of the new post-”Return of the Jedi” trilogy that’s in the works, speculation began about what characters from George Lucas’ “galaxy far, far away” might star in those spinoff films.

According to the Associated Press, Iger said the movies would be based on “great ‘Star Wars’ characters that are not part of the overall saga.” The films would be released during the six-year period of the new trilogy, which starts in 2015 with “Star Wars: Episode VII.”

Entertainment Weekly reports that one of the spin-offs will relate the origin story of young scoundrel/smuggler Han Solo, while another will be a bounty hunter adventure centering on fan favorite Boba Fett.

Several sources close to the projects confirmed, according to EW.com, although each cautioned it’s still very early in the process and, well, the deal could always be altered futher. Lucasfilm and Disney declined comment.

The Han Solo story would take place in the time period between the last “Star Wars” prequel film, “Revenge of the Sith,” and the first “Star Wars,” AKA “A New Hope,” AKA Episode IV.

EW reports it’s possible that Harrison Ford could appear as a framing device, à la Ian Holm’s Bilbo Baggins in “The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.” But the movie obviously would require a new lead actor,  presumably one younger than Ford, then 35, was when he appeared in the 1977 original.

The Boba Fett film would take place either between “A New Hope” and “The Empire Strikes Back,” or between “Empire” and “Jedi.” As fans undoubtedly remember,  the bounty hunter was last seen in Episode VI plunging unceremoniously into the Sarlacc pit, where he was presumably slowly digested over 1,000 years, although works such as Dark Horse Comics’ “Dark Empire” series detail his escape from the alien maw.

Since Boba Fett never took off his helmet in the original trilogy, casting for that spin-off could be pretty wide open. In the prequels, Boba Fett was the son of the original Storm Trooper clone Jango Fett. New Zealand actor Temuera Morrison played Jango, and EW.com reports he’s still the right age for the part if Disney goes that route.