This week the shortlist of actors to play a young version of Han Solo found its way onto the Internet. While I’m not entirely sold on the prospect of a Han Solo origin story, I like the idea of Dave Franco playing everyone’s favorite Corellian smuggler. Franco can be brash and flippant, which definitely describes Han Solo, probably even more so as a younger man. Disney built some trust and equity with The Force Awakens, so hopefully it won’t throw it all away with terrible origin stories for Han Solo and Boba Fett.
Here are some of the Bible’s best origin stories that I wouldn’t mind seeing turned into big budget blockbusters.
David
I don’t really know why Hollywood has yet to make an epic out of David’s life. David’s story has pretty much everything a modern blockbuster needs: action, sex, armies fighting each other, a hero and an iconic villain. David’s origin could make for a great first film in a trilogy about his life. We could follow him from a young man in Saul’s kingdom, watch him fending off bears and lions. The movie could climax with his showdown with Goliath and end with Saul’s growing jealousy. Seriously, all movie studios want to do is make movies of familiar stories with built-in audiences. What’s more familiar than David and Goliath and what better audience than a third of the world’s population?
Esther
Esther is another story ripe for the origin story treatment. Esther grew up in exile, forced to eke out a living in a foreign country. By a stroke of divine intervention and some bombshell good looks, Esther finds herself as the queen of the most powerful empire in the world. This origin story could definitely be a serious period piece, but I’d also like to see it as a fun musical. The musical number about Haman’s impaling would probably be a little dark, but everything would be bright costumes and jazzy dance routines.
John the Baptist
I haven’t seen The Revenant, but it’s being marketed as a gritty drama about a lonely man surviving the wilderness while seeking his vengeance. That sounds a little bit like the story of John the Baptist. JTB grew up in a house with a mother and father, but at some point he left the comforts of home for the wilds of the Judean desert. The Bible says that John wore clothes of camel’s hair and a leather belt. I like to imagine JTB wrestling a camel to the ground with his bare hands in order to make his clothes. JTB was a firebrand who wasn’t afraid to speak his mind; unfortunately that led to his murder at the hands of Herod. Still, the origin story of a defiant rebel who stood up to an evil empire definitely feels like a blockbuster. If only Charlton Heston was still alive to play the role.
I’m not as excited about a Han Solo origin story as I am Rogue One, but I’ll still see it. Most of the backlash comes from casting someone else in such an iconic role. I love Harrison Ford as Han Solo but his days wearing the boots and vest are over. Hopefully Disney can find the right actor and hopefully it’ll be as entertaining as Charlton Heston splashing around in the water.
What’s your favorite Biblical origin story?
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