The character was based on the pirate Long John Silver from Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson, which screenwriters Lawrence and Jonathan Kasdan re-read before diving into the script of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

They looked to create a mentor/apprentice relationship between Beckett and Han Solo similar to that of Silver and Jim Hawkins in Treasure Island.

[6] Due to the intervention of the Cloud-Riders led by Enfys Nest, the theft goes awry and results in the deaths of Rio and Val.

Beckett then reveals to Solo that he was hired by the Crimson Dawn syndicate to steal the coaxium and that he would have to face death as a punishment for indebtedness.

Dryden approves of a plan by Han to steal unrefined coaxium from the spice mines of Kessel, and sends Qi'ra to accompany the crew.

Qi'ra recruits smuggler and pilot Lando Calrissian, who recognizes Beckett as the killer of bounty hunter Aurra Sing.

[8][9] After stealing the coaxium, they go to Savareen to refine it, but they again encounter Enfys Nest, who reveals herself as a resistance fighter against the Galactic Empire and the Crimson Dawn.