NICHOLAS HOULT | ODDS: 500 to 1
Hoult is a fine young actor who has aged well since he played the gawky kid from About a Boy. And he’s also used to starring in big-budget effects films that attract lots of fanboys, since he plays Beast in the new X-Men movies. But he doesn’t project the kind of rough-around-the-edges, charismatic cool that playing a younger Solo would demand; that is, unless the plot of the movie is about a previously unknown chapter of Han’s life where he got kicked out of an English boarding school.
RYAN REYNOLDS | ODDS: 150 to 1
He’s got the look, and he’s no stranger to a wisecrack. His previous work might seem to indicate Reynolds would play Solo as an over-the-top, joke-a-minute clown, but we think he’d be able to dial it back. Still, Reynolds proved to be a surprisingly dull space hero in Green Lantern. So while Reynolds doesn’t have the kiss of death that Kitsch has, he’s probably not at the very top of anyone’s casting lists these days, either.
