Ron Howard reveals unexpected non-canon character inclusions for Han Solo movie

Director Ron Howard has been the number one source of teasers for the upcoming "Star Wars" movie about the popular space smuggler, Han Solo. The filmmaker's most recent hint indicates that a pair of characters from a non-canonical comic book series, Tag and Bink, will be included in the film.

On Twitter, Howard posted an image of himself together with two Imperial officers in uniform. His caption simply said, "#tagandbink ?"

This was enough for diehard "Star Wars" fan to rejoice, as the comic book series which stars the pair is a well-beloved one that spawned a number of issues.

The characters were created by Kevin Rubio for a story in Dark Horse Comic's series "Star Wars Tales," which is a collection of non-canon stories. Rubio will go on to write additional issues chronicling the adventures of the duo. These stories became "Tag & Bink Are Dead 1," Tag & Bink Are Dead 2," "Tag & Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace," and "The Return of Tag & Bink: Special Edition."

In the stories, the pair go into a series of adventures that see them cross paths with the major characters in the original and prequel trilogies. Rubio noted that the duo were always in the "wrong place at the wrong time."

The idea behind the characters was loosely based on Tom Stoppard's "Rosencrantz & Guildenstern Are Dead," which told the story about two minor characters from William Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Rubio also went to Twitter to react to Ron Howard's post, thanking the director for making his characters part of the official canon.

The characters will be played by Jon Kasdan, the screenwriter of the Han Solo film, and Toby Hefferman will be its first assistant director.

Kasdan responded to Rubio's message, confirming that the characters are indeed being included in the film. "I'm a huge fan and I had to get 'em in there," he said. "And then had to play it myself (with Toby Hefferman) to do it justice."