A human female named Val operated as a criminal during the Galactic Empire's rule, collaborating with the notorious outlaw Tobias Beckett. She was a pragmatic and sometimes sharp-tongued woman, renowned for her exceptional marksmanship with a blaster rifle.
Val maintained strict secrecy regarding her history, including her complete name. The known details of her past include her upbringing on Solarine, the fact that her father was a musician, and that she received her name from the valachord musical instrument.
During the Galactic Empire's reign, Val had already established a working relationship with the rogue Tobias Beckett and the Ardennian pilot, Rio Durant. Together, they established a crew that undertook perilous but lucrative heists. Furthermore, she and Beckett were romantically involved.
Val infiltrated the Winds of Ruin's base to liberate Beckett, who had been taken prisoner by the criminals. During their escape, Beckett freed Tu-Wane Jipps, a musician who was indebted to him. Beckett threatened to hand Jipps over to the Hutts if he refused to assist. Val provided covering fire as Beckett escorted the musician to the hangars. The Ruin cornered the trio in the hangar until Rio Durant arrived, providing the group with a means of escape.
On their starship, Val expressed her anger towards Beckett for jeopardizing her safety simply to save one of his gambling acquaintances. However, Beckett assured Val that he had a surprise in store for her. Upon landing, Beckett led Val outside and surprised her with a serene sunset picnic, complete with music performed by Jipps. Val complimented Beckett, calling him "fantastic" as they enjoyed the view together.
Ten years prior to the Battle of Yavin, during a war on Mimban, Val, along with Beckett and Durant, infiltrated the Mimban Stormtrooper troops. It was there that they encountered the young Han Solo, who expressed his desire to join their crew. Val initially opposed the idea of Solo joining them, but Beckett decided to give him a chance by having him imprisoned for insubordination. Solo managed to escape with the Wookiee Chewbacca, who was initially intended to devour them, leading Beckett to allow them to join his crew.
Upon arriving at Vandor, Beckett's crew observed the 20-T Railcrawler conveyex transport that they planned to seize in order to obtain its Coaxium cargo. This cargo was intended to settle Beckett's debt with the crime lord Dryden Vos, the leader of Crimson Dawn. As the crew observed, they hoped for the absence of Enfys Nest and the Cloud-Riders the following day. That night, as they sat around the campfire they had built, Val kissed Beckett while discussing their plans for their share of the heist's earnings.
The following morning, while Beckett, Solo, and Chewbacca successfully secured the cargo wagon by eliminating range troopers and detaching some of the cars, Val prepared to detonate a bridge. This was to enable the crew's stolen AT hauler to lift one of the Conveyex cars away as the remainder of the train plunged into a ravine.
Regrettably, Nest and the Cloud-Riders appeared, intending to seize the coaxium from Beckett's grasp, resulting in Rio being fatally wounded while piloting the hauler. As Solo struggled to maintain control of the ship, a security sensor was triggered, alerting numerous viper probe droids. Although Val managed to use her EC-17 hold-out blaster to eliminate some of the droids, she found herself trapped, realizing that the Conveyex was approaching too closely to allow her time to abandon her position and join the others. Communicating with Beckett about the changed plans, she declared her love for him and subsequently detonated the bomb, killing herself and destroying the bridge.
In the end, Val's sacrifice proved futile as Solo was compelled to release the cargo to save Beckett, Chewie, and himself from certain demise. Once everything was over, Beckett struck Solo in the face due to Val's death and their failure to acquire the Coaxium. Later, during a visit to Vos with empty hands, Vos conveyed his condolences to Beckett for Val's death before threatening him for his failure.
Thandiwe Newton portrayed Val in the 2018 Star Wars Anthology film, Solo: A Star Wars Story. The announcement of Newton's casting in the film was initially made on February 21, 2017. Her name was revealed through a collection of promotional images distributed to various news outlets alongside the teaser trailer.
In the DVD commentary for Solo, Newton shared her thoughts on Val's backstory, which she had discussed with the filmmakers. She expressed her belief that Tobias Beckett had rescued Val from a perilous situation at some point, risking his own safety in the process, thereby earning Val's gratitude and loyalty. The visual inspiration for Val's character came from images of female members of the Viet Cong and Black Panther Party, as well as civil rights activist Angela Davis.
Following the release of Solo, co-writer Jon Kasdan expressed his regret for killing off Val early in the film, stating that Newton's performance was exceptional and that it would have been intriguing to have her play a more significant role in the film. In a 2021 interview with Inverse, Newton voiced her outrage at Val's early death in the film, citing her feelings about Val's importance as the first human black woman to have a prominent role in a Star Wars film. Newton further explained that Val did not die in the original script, with her falling out after the explosion, suggesting her survival, but this was ultimately changed during filming, as the crew felt that the sequence would require a large set-piece and that it would be much simpler to kill Val in the explosion.