In Appreciation of Ron Howard’s Instagrams From the Han Solo Set

Since he arrived on the set of Lucasfilm’s untitled Han Solo spinoff, new director Ron Howard wants to let you know he’s having a really good time, and also casually expose torturously vague details about the movie on a semi-regular basis. Rarely does a day on the set go undocumented on Howard’s Insta. The frustrating part: He’s not giving us anything really juicy (ahem, show us this Ace Ventura performance we’ve been hearing about, or at least crack the Last Jedi server and give us more Space Dern); instead, probably per a 6,000-page legal contract, the images he posts seem pretty random and innocuous, showing us only a small percentage of something we’d actually be excited to see. In other words, Howard’s Instagram feed has emerged as the summer’s biggest tease.

We suppose it’s possible there are key plot points hiding in plain sight on Howard’s Instagrams, but … of course not. Instead, these photos do reveal that the hand steadying the Han Solo spinoff is playful, offbeat, and enjoys messing with all of our minds — maybe he’s even, daresay, irreverent, a quality ex-directors Lord and Miller were reportedly fired for. This is Ron Howard, half-seasoned leader/half-merry prankster: Star Wars’ very own super senior, happy to be held back so he can slink back into homeroom to brag about hanging out with Donald Glover. (Imagine it: Richie Cunningham, with a seat reserved at the millennial cool-kids’ table.)

Until Ron Howard does accidentally violate the complex web of NDAs that govern the Star Wars universe and leaks something big and important from this super-secretive set, let’s take a moment to appreciate the troll-y visual diary of your overexcited dad Ron Howard on the Han Solo set:

Narrator voice: … But this would not be the case at many other times, as you will soon see.

Kathleen Kennedy reportedly didn’t even like the way Lord and Miller folded their socks, but how does she feel about these ’grams? Is there a group text with Howard, Kennedy, and a lawyer where she gets first look? If there are droids in this movie, are they the droids we’re, you know, looking for?

With all due respect: Was Ron Howard, like, a fuccboi in his last life? Because this “inside that structure is something very interesting” sentence construction seems like a dodge reserved for a fuccboi who not only definitely forgot your birthday and plainly does not care, but also feels inclined to lie that he got you something he swears is worth the wait. You will never get that gift. Not that I’m speaking from experience.

Dad, stop. (I should also say that I am now very grateful that my own father is not an Oscar-winning director allowed to nerd out on set, and just a regular retired lawyer who just discovered GIFs like a week ago.)

There actually is an important detail hiding in plain sight here: Donald Glover will wear yellow in this movie! (Yellow, a color Vulture long ago established did not exist before Mahershala Ali invented it.) Won’t it be fun when this one shot flashes across your movie screen on May 25, 2018, and you can sit back in your seat with a smug smile, because, thanks to Ron Howard’s Instagram, you knew this one moment was coming?

This last one is totally unrelated to Star Wars or the Han Solo movie. It just feels important that we all appreciate two things happening here: Ron Howard was front row at the Weeknd’s set, and the Weeknd seems to be trying very hard to not make eye contact. Perhaps the Weeknd knows he’s about to end up … on Ron Howard’s Instagram.

In Praise of Ron Howard’s Instagrams From the Han Solo Set