Han Solo, over the course of the four canonical movies he appears in, becomes a chief figure in the rebellious Alliance. When he is first introduced in Episode IV: A New Hope, however, he is simply a smuggler who agrees to take
Why did Han Solo owe Jabba money? Priorto the events of 1977’s Star Wars (Episode IV: A New Hope), HanSolo was smuggling a shipment of “spices” (probably a pseudonymfor Glitterstim, an illicit substance with addictive properties) forJabba the Hutt when he was forced to jettison the cargo to avoidcapture by Imperial customs agents. The money Han Solo owes Jabba theHutt is initially the value of the cargo but increases over time asinterest accrues, and Jabba invests more money in Han’s bounty.
While the source of Han Solo’s debtis only obliquely referenced in the movies, it has remained constantthrough every iteration of the franchise. The exact amount andspecifics of the debt, on the other hand, have changed many times asnew source material has become available, and what is consideredcanon has been altered.
How Much did Han SoloOwe Jabba?
No specific amount is ever stated as tohow much money Han Solo owes Jabba the Hutt. Presumably, it is enoughthat the notorious gangster, Jabba, is willing to put a hefty bountyon one of his best (and arguably favorite) smugglers, Han Solo.
To further complicate things, as timepasses, Han Solo presumably owes more as interest accrues. Becausewhat is considered canon has changed over time, how much Han Soloowes Jabba the Hutt depends on who, and when, you ask.
A New Hope (1977)
In the first Star Wars movie that wasreleased in 1977 (later dubbed Episode IV: A New Hope), HanSolo’s motivation for accepting the charter of
Greedo: Jabba’s through with you! He has no use for smugglers who drop their shipments at the first sign of an Imperial cruiser.
Han Solo: Even I get boarded sometimes. Do you think I had a choice?
In this, the first reference to the debt, it is clear that Han Solo owes Jabba the Hutt the value of the cargo he dumped when boarded by Imperial forces, but the value (and contents) of the shipment is left unspecified. Greedo only says, “Jabba’s put a price on your head, so large every bounty hunter in the galaxy will be looking for you.”
When negotiating the price of the charter with Obi-Wan, Han initially suggests a price of 10,000 (Imperial) credits paid in advance, and eventually agrees to 2,000 credits up front and another 15,000 upon delivery in Alderaan, for a total of 17,000 credits. This appears to be enough to “save [Han’s] neck” and when Greedo apprehends him soon after, Han states that he has the money to pay Jabba back, though he doesn’t have it with him. This would imply that his initial debt is less than 17,000 (and probably less than 10,000) credits.
It is often speculated that the cargowas worth 12,400 credits, and Han has managed to save 2,400 creditsso far, and only needs another 10,000 credits more.
A New Hope: SpecialEdition (1997)
During the filming of A New Hope,Declan Mulholland portrayed Jabba the Hutt in a scene that wasultimately cut from the film.
In the scene, Mulholland portrays Jabbathe Hutt as a human character wearing a shaggy fur coat. George Lucashas stated that he always intended Mulhollland’s portrayal of Jabbathe Hutt to be replaced by a claymation depiction of an aliencreature in his place. Citing a lack of budget to make thereplacement (as well as pacing concerns, not to mention cameraproblems, focus problems, and film stock problems during filming),the scene was cut entirely from the 1977 release.
When the movie was rereleased in 1997(and again in 2004), Mulholland was replaced by a Computer GeneratedImage (CGI) depiction of Jabba the Hutt, a large, slug-like aliencreature. This scene reiterates that Jabba the Hutt has put a bountyon Han Solo because Han “dropped [his] cargo at the first sign ofan Imperial starship.” Han repeats that “even [he] get[s] boardedsometimes,” and asks if Jabba thinks he had a choice.
What the scene does add is Han Solonegotiating extra time to pay Jabba his debt now that he has a nice,easy charter lined up so he can pay what he owes plus 15% (talkeddown from 20%) extra. If Han returned to pay Jabba after completingthe charter, he would have had more than enough to cover his 11,500credit debit. Instead, he returned to fight in the battle of Yavin,then joined the Rebel Alliance for 3 years. If his 15% interest rateaccrued weekly (as is common among loan sharks) his debt would haveincreased to 29.6 trillion Imperial Credits in that time.
In this added scene, Jabba the Huttalso adds that if Han fails him again, he’ll “put a price on
head so big [Han] won’t be able to go near a civilizedsystem.” The inclusion of this scene casts doubt on any calculationof how much Han Solo owes Jabba the Hutt because when Han fails topay him back at the end of A New Hope Jabba could have addedany amount to the bounty on Han Solo’s head.
Rebel Dawn (1998)
After the original trilogy concludedwith Return of the Jedi in 1983, a lot of Star Wars materialwas produced in the form of role playing games, comic books, andnovels, that fleshed out what became known as the Star Wars Universe.The material produced was considered canonical until Disney purchasedLucasfilm in 2012 and declared that the Expanded Universe was nolonger canon, and would henceforth be known as “Star WarsLegends.”
For nearly 14 years, however, RebelDawn, the third of Ann C. Crispin’s “Han Solo Trilogy”(the second Han Solo trilogy of novels in the Expanded Universe) toldthe story of Han Solo and Chewbacca dumping the illicit Glitterstimfrom the mines of Kessel (and retconning the explanation of Han’sclaim that he made the run in less than 12 parsecs – a unit ofdistance, not time – by passing so close to the black holes in theMaw).
With the elimination of thisexplanation from the canon, we are once again left with the vagueexplanation that Han dropped some sort of cargo he was transportingfor Jabba. Because it’s Disney that now owns the rights, it’sunlikely that if the story is ever officially fleshed out that Hanwill have been moving illicit drugs, as he was in this version of thestory.
Best Guess for HanSolo’s Debt to Jabba
While noting that the lack of concretedata (and constant changes to what information is considered canon)to determine how much Han Solo owed Jabba the Hutt, a commonestimation is 224,190 Imperial credits.
This calculation assumes:
- 12,400 credits for the value ofthe cargo,
- 4,100 credits for killing Greedo,
- 320 credits for bounty notices,
- 5,000 credits to hire Boba Fett,
- 2,000 credits to hire other bountyhunters,
- 125,640 credits due on advances onthe Millenium Falcon
- 74,730 credits in interest
These numbers, however, are based oneither speculation or sources that are no longer canon. Unless a newmovie lays the debate to rest, we may never know exactly how much HanSolo owed Jabba the Hutt.
Brad Burnie( Author )
Brad Burnie is the founder of Starships.com. He loves all video game genres. In his spare time, he loves reading, watching movies, and gaming
