And it also seems to be a nice continuation of the Rogue One’s heightened realism aesthetic.
It’s SW. Why would anyone want a “realism aesthetic” ? I really miss when SW were space-op movies and not gray looking Marvel flicks…
I don’t see how the ST movies so far have been colourless. I would have described both of them as being quite colourful, especially by modern standards.
Also, RO was supposed to be a more gritty war-movie, and Solo might go for a similar style. Plus, it is set during the early days of Imperial tyranny, and the whole “hope” themes of the OT and RO isn’t really that relevant yet. n addition this story is about a group of criminals during Imperial rule, so colourful isn’t really necessary.
And as for “realism aesthetic”, isn’t that kind of what made ANH stand out from sci-fi at the time? That unlike previous science fiction like, f. ex. Star Trek, it looked “realistic”. The OT wasn’t overly colourful, it had many grey or single-coloured interiors, the space ships were dirty and look worn, and ANH even had shaky-cam scenes. The OT, was, for the most part, not that much more colourful than what you naturally got from shooting in colourful environments (like Tunisia for Tatooine or northern California for Endor).