Dear Disney, Lucasfilm, and whomever else it may concern,

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was clearly made with plenty of love for Star Wars fans. There was a nostalgia factor that included seeing such iconic ships as the Millennium Falcon again, along with a mystery factor that involved seeing what has become of the beloved Star Wars universe after thirty years.

However, one of the things that got the fans the most excited was the prospect of seeing the trio of Luke Skywalker, Leia Organa, and Han Solo again. When it was revealed that Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford had all signed on to be in the new movie, our excitement was multiplied. As you no doubt know, we love Luke, Leia, and Han. For almost four decades now, they have been our good friends.

Then when December of 2015 finally came, we lined up in our movie theaters hours before the movie started, we brought our plastic lightsabers and wore our Han Solo shirts, and we applauded when the classic opening, “A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away . . .” appeared on the movie screens. It was like coming home again.

But towards the end of the movie, Han Solo died.

We understand why this storytelling decision was made. We know that Harrison Ford thought Han should die all the way back in Return of the Jedi and we know that he is neither a young man nor a cheap actor. We also know that the mentor characters in Star Wars such as Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn tend to die.

However, this is different from those other examples. When Obi-Wan died, we knew him only as a mentor. Yes, we saw him as a younger man in the prequels, but when the prequels came out, we had known his fate for many years. Han is different. Han was one of the three main heroes in the original trilogy. We rooted for him and we wanted him to have a happy ending. In fact, for over thirty years we thought he did have a happy ending. The last time we saw him, he and Leia were embracing as the Ewoks danced. When The Force Awakens took away his happy ending, we grieved as if a close friend died. The universe where we always felt safe suddenly no longer felt like a haven for us.

That is why we are petitioning to bring Han Solo back to life in Episode VIII or Episode IX. It would not be the first time a dead fan-favorite character in Star Wars has been brought back to life. The Expanded Universe (now Legends) canon got Boba Fett out of the Sarlacc Pit and Star Wars: The Clone Wars brought Darth Maul back to life. We Han Solo fans cannot be as excited about the future Star Wars movies now that our favorite scoundrel is dead. Yes, we realize that he is fictional, but to our hearts he is real.

We realize that it would be difficult to heal Han of a lightsaber through the heart, but we also know that the people who work on Star Wars movies and TV shows are a very creative bunch and that this is a universe where people can occasionally survive being burned alive. We are sure that you could bring Han back in a plausible manner if your applied your creativity. Han, Leia, and Luke deserve their happy ending back.

Sincerely,

The Han Solo fans