While The Last of Us 2’s Joel Miller may not be a “stuck up, half-witted, scruffy looking nerf herder” like Han Solo, he does have some undeniable similarities to the galactic smuggler from a galaxy far, far away. Both men are cynics who had to adapt to their surroundings, becoming emotionally distant until the right person helped them change their ways. Han and Joel had this, and more, in common.
Though separated by many light-years, character archetypes remain the same no matter what time period they’re in, which is why it’s easy to draw on the similarities of Joel and Han. They both had to make the best of dire circumstances—Joel’s daughter Sarah died in his arms in The Last of Us, and Han grew up as an orphan who had to turn to smuggling to survive according to Solo. During their lives, they realized that it was more important to help do what they thought was right, even if it meant sacrificing others to get the job done.
While Han Solo is one of the most beloved Star Wars characters in the franchise, he’s just an “accidental hero” at the end of the day. Han is snarky, witty, and resourceful—a pretty killer combination for an intergalactic smuggler. However, he’s also got a compassionate side that’s tapped into throughout A New Hope, especially when he changes his mind and helps Luke and the Rebels on the battlefront attack on the Death Star.
Joel is characterized by the tragedies he’s experienced in his life, turning him into someone equally resourceful and practical as Han Solo, with a similar job in smuggling to bot. Much like Han didn’t initially want to help the Rebel Alliance, Joel was hesitant to escort Ellie in The Last of Us. Throughout their time together, Joel warms up to Ellie similarly to how Han warms up to Luke and Leia and the cause they’re fighting for. It was Joel’s relationship with Ellie, and Han’s relationship with Luke and Leia, that changed them into people that fought for the right reasons.
Han may stumble into his heroic nature, but the term “antihero” applies to both Joel and Han. Neither one of them possesses traits that are conventionally “heroic,” and yet they both become some sort of a hero within their own stories. Fans may take issue with how both characters act in certain situations, but it can be argued that they genuinely thought they were doing what was right. In Joel’s case, it was hiding the truth of Ellie’s immunity from her. In Han’s, it was returning to smuggling after his son turned to the Dark Side and became Kylo Ren.
Beyond being characters that many fans had an intense attachment to, the deaths of these men set some monumental plotlines into motion. When Han was killed by his own son, Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo), it demonstrated how far into the Dark Side he’d actually fallen. In that moment, it was possible that Leia was wrong and there was no good left in her son, especially if he’d go so far as to stick a lightsaber through his father.
When Ellie watches Abby beat Joel, her adoptive father, to death, it awakens a rage in her that sets the entirety of The Last of Us 2 in progress. Even leading up to that moment, however, Ellie and Joel’s relationship pretty much mirrored Han and Ben’s. Both parties were emotionally distant from each other—Ellie because Joel came clean and told her the truth about the Fireflies and how he saved her, and, obviously, Han and Ben were distant because Ben went to the Dark Side.
Without Han’s death, Ben never could have found his way back to himself or had a change of heart that helped Rey defeat the Dark Side in The Rise of Skywalker. Though heartbreaking, Ellie may have never fully forgiven Joel for lying to her unless he died. Though it’s never explicitly stated, the flashbacks at the end of The Last of Us 2 suggest that Ellie finally found it in her heart to forgive him, even though he was long gone.
Though their stories’ settings and plotlines differ greatly, Joel and Han Solo have much more in common than many people may realize. Fans can replay The Last of Us to see Joel evolve into the person he becomes, or re-watch Star Wars: A New Hope to see that first, poignant introduction of Han Solo. Either way, these two men have similarities that are undeniable.
The Last of Us 2 is available now as a PlayStation 4 exclusive.
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