Lucasfilm has released a featurette called “Becoming Solo,” which delves into the world of its upcoming film, Solo: A Star Wars Story, and where its titular hero fits into it.

Solo director Ron Howard opens the video by saying that this film shows off a world that we really haven’t seen much of in the franchise: one in which the Empire holds complete control. He notes that everyone is struggling to survive, and that Han is a rare “free spirit.”

“You end up getting to see how this guy got to be the way he is,” Han Solo actor Alden Ehrenreich says, while his costar Donald Glover (who plays Lando Calrissian), adds that “we’re meeting Han right before he becomes the Han that we know.” Solo writer Lawrence Kasdan notes that he’s the most exciting character in the saga, because “you don’t know what he’s going to do,” and that he’s incredibly reckless — something that we certainly see more of in the franchise’s other installments.

There’s a bit of new footage alongside the interviews: we see Han in Imperial armor fighting on what we know as the swamp planet Mimban, where he’s joined by Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson), and Val (played by Westworld’s Thandie Newton). There’s also some additional scenes that we’ve already seen in earlier teasers and trailers: how he first met Chewbacca, the train heist on Vandor, and how he won the Millennium Falcon from Lando.

Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25th.