Harrison Ford will return in new Star Wars films, reports claim

Harrison Ford has committed to appear as Han Solo in the forthcoming series of Star Wars films to be produced by Disney, according to a "scoop" reported on Fox News Latino. Latino News columnist Umberto "El Mayimbe" Gonzalez told interview Victor Garcia: "Harrison Ford will reprise his role as Han Solo in the upcoming Star Wars movies. The deal is done. It's huge."

Gonzalez claimed he had "triple checked" his "legitimate sources", and could not say whether Ford's role would be a small cameo or something larger – or even whether he would appear in Star Wars Episode VII, the forthcoming film to be directed by JJ Abrams.

Another insider-scoop blogger, Roger Friedman of showbiz411.com, agreed with Gonzalez, asserting that he was "told some time ago that Ford, Carrie Fisher and Mark Hamill would be reprising their roles" in Episode VII. He also claimed to have some plot details: "It's some time in the future. Han, Princess Leia (presumably with a better hairstyle) and Luke Skywalker will be a lot older. Their children will be the new main characters. R2D2 and C-3PO will be unchanged."

Ford's participation in the new set of Star Wars movies has been rumoured for some time, along with Hamill and Fisher; but given his fractious relationship with original creator George Lucas, Ford's presence was by no means a certainty. He confirmed in 2010 he had unsuccessfully pushed to have Han Solo killed off in Return of the Jedi in an effort to "supply some emotional bottom".

This article was written by Andrew Pulver, for guardian.co.uk on Monday 18th February 2013 11.19 Europe/London