Those books were puerile and formulaic swill aspiring to crap. To take the main characters and imagine THAT kind of future was criminal-even as a money making joke. Nothing like saying 25+ years of Rebellion was a waste of time to undo a whole Saga. But...back on topic...it doesn`t matter if Han Solo dies on screen or is referred to as dead, it`s NOT about him! Star Wars is about Good-vs-Evil and Good WINNING and the Skywalkers. Unfortunately our culture now prefers darkness and Evil winning and the focus is a space cowboy/criminal/ hired driver who got paid but never went away. It`s not Solos story...never was. And Disney`s won`t be Star Wars`-—or mine.
It's not like Lucas will inject a microbial source for the Force, change the premise for a characters existence, or change primative fighting culture for a teddy bear all for a quick marketing buck...