Emilia Clarke gives Entertainment Weekly some context on Qi’ra, her character in Solo: A Star Wars Story, including that there’s a “romantic side of things.” (Sigh, so much for all those half-sister theories.) But mainly, that her and Han go way back.
There is a thing throughout the relationship you just can’t put your finger on. And that’s Qi’ra. Every time you think you have got her number you realize you haven’t at all. [Laughs] Which is really hard to play. The goal is that the shadow of Qi’ra is there in Han as a character that we know. This girl is another texture that makes up who he is when we first meet him.