 Having Han Solo frozen in carbonite was (at least in part) due to  the fact that they were not sure that Harrison Ford (I) (qv) would  return for a third film. When the original _Star Wars (1977)_ (qv)  was made Carrie Fisher (qv) and Mark Hamill (I) (qv) were signed  for a three picture deal, but Harrison Ford (I) (qv) refused. Ford  even requested George Lucas (qv) to kill off Solo, since the  character had played its part already, but Lucas refused, saying  that he still had a heroic part for Han Solo to play in  _Star Wars: Episode VI 