It appears that Woody Harrelson sheepishly let slip just who he’ll be playing in the Han Solo movie during an interview with Variety at Sundance. The actor’s initial reticence to respond perhaps implies that he’ll be getting a stern talking to from some higher ups at Lucasfilm, but he did seem to confirm that the mentor figure role he’ll take on will be Garris Shrike. As /Film notes, however, there is some lingering skepticism as to whether Harrelson was just reiterating that he’ll be in the Star Wars spin-off rather than spilling character details, but you can see for yourself:
Shrike is a character imported from The Han Solo Trilogy novels by Ann C. Crispin, the first of which, The Paradise Snare, was published in 1997. In that book, he’s a one-time bounty hunter who is the captain of the Trader’s Luck. Shrike essentially adopted Han when the hero was a homeless child. Crispin describes Shrike as a “less-than-benevolent despot” with a “warped sense of humor, especially if the pain of others was involved” and an affinity for getting drunk. So, basically, a perfect Woody Harrelson role.