Star Wars fans have just discovered exactly how old Han Solo and Leia Organa were in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope, and I’m just saying… Han is lucky Twitter didn’t exist back then.
In a thread over on the r/StarWars subreddit titled “Han and Leia age difference is kinda creepy”, one user has clearly come to a slightly upsetting revelation.
“So there's about 15-20 years difference between Han and Leia which, assuming that Han is around 40…” writers user adeze.
“Means Leia is 20-25. It's a little lecherous… He could be her father (whoever her father is).”
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Gonna assume the “father” bit is a joke, but otherwise this is pretty easy to break down.
Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope is set in 0 BBY (“BBY” meaning “Before the Battle of Yavin”), which makes the maths on this one straightforward.
Han Solo was born in 32 BBY. Leia Skywalker Organa was born in 19 BBY. That means, when they met, Han was 32, and Leia was 19.
Alright, yeah, that’s a bit of a gap for sure. But let’s do some further maths real quick.
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Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back is set in 3 ABY (After the Battle of Yavin). As 0 ABY counts as a whole separate year, that actually means 4 years have passed. That would make Han 36 and Leia 23.
Now, this bit is relevant because Han and Leia’s romantic relationship only truly began to form during the events of Star Wars: Episode V, as this is when the whole “I love you”/”I know” exchange happens.
Admittedly, there’s still a big age gap, but it does recontextualise it slightly, as at least Han isn’t lusting after someone in their teens by the time the relationship begins.
If you want some real LucasFilm age-gap controversy to get mad about though, I suggest you look up how old Indiana Jones and Marion Ravenwood were in Raiders of the Lost Ark...
Topics: Star Wars, Lucasfilm, Disney, TV And Film