Late Saturday night, The King of All Things Han Solo, Ron Howard posted a photo from the never ending filming Han Solo film with himself, two Imperial officers and the caption “Tag and Bink?” What followed was millions of voices screaming out in joy (and some in confusion) that the Dark Horse comics heroes would perhaps be making a cameo in the upcoming movie. Blast Points reached out to Kevin Rubio, Tag & Bink writer and creator of the legendary fan film TROOPS to get his thoughts on all this with seven hard hitting questions:
BP: We can only imagine what it must have been like to discover that Tag & Bink were to be characters in the upcoming Han Solo film. So where were you, how did you find this out and what was going through your head as you learned about this?
KR: I was at home, groggy from a late night at night at an Awesome FRIDAY THE 13th themed Halloween party (Thanks Bryan! Had a BLAST!), sitting at my desk, pouring over social media when my friend Brian Linder, pinned it to my Facebook page.
BP: I was reading on Twitter about your connection with Lawerence Kasdan and it sounded fascinating. What’s the deal with that?
KR: Actually it was his son Jon Kasdan, the co-writer of “SOLO”. Turns out he’s the big Tag & Bink fan, and as he said: “… I had to get ’em in there, and then had to play it myself (with Toby Hefferman) to do it justice.”
BP: Once the news broke, I was so happy to see all the Tag and Bink love on social media. What was that like and how have the past few days been with all that?
KR: It was gratifying and a little overwhelming for the first few hours, then I had to turn it off and get back to work — deadlines, ya know.
BP: If Ron Howard and The Kasdan’s asked you for advice on how they could perfectly capture Tag & Bink on screen, what would you tell them?
KR: What the hell am I going to tell Ron Howard about film making?! The man’s been in the biz for over 50 years, and has proven himself in pretty much every genre. Jon has apprenticed under a guy who is one of the greatest screen writers of all time! I’m going to tell him about character arcs and three-act-structure?!! Please! For however small or big their role is in the film, Tag and Bink are in good hands, or “Han” as the case may be.
BP: How is illustrator Lucas Marangon handling all this?
KR: He and Howard Shum (the inker, are both thrilled and proud to have been a big part of creating the duo.
BP: For folks out there unfamiliar with Tag & Bink, how would you sum them up and where would you recommend them starting?
KR: Marvel has featured them several times on their website these past few years. Here’s a link — https://news.marvel.com/
BP: And I know when we spoke a year ago, I asked the same question but any chances all this excitement could stir up all some new Tag & Bink books?
KR: I submitted an idea to Marvel and Lucasfilm last year, and although the reception was positive, regrettably they had to decline because they weren’t canon. If things have changed and they want another story, there is one waiting in the wings and Lucas and Howard would love to jump on board for STAR WARS: TAG & BINK AWAKEN.
(and go way back with last year’s interview with Kevin Rubio here:
