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A story set-up trick you can use is to decide on a clever way of defeating the final enemy, that relies on having some interesting or unusual bit of equipment (or magical spell, or information, or whatever, really). Then very early in the adventure, before the heroes even know what's going on or who's behind it, give that thing to them.
They'll have no idea what it's for. Maybe they'll think up a few creative uses for it along the way. But when it comes down to the Big Boss Fight at the end of the adventure (or the final puzzle room in the dungeon, or whatever other climax you have planned for the adventure), they'll have this thing which they now take for granted. And when they figure out a way to use it to defeat the final challenge, they'll feel incredibly clever!
You don't have to give away that that's why you gave it to them in the first place. Although the players may figure it out for themselves.
So that's how it will go sometimes. The other nine times out of ten they'll forget they have the item that could solve all their problems and come up with some other stupid plan instead.
Commentary by memnarch (who has not seen the movie)
Zeppo is less suicidal than I remembered; I am surprised! Though, I guess without a sufficient set-up of how important it is, a suicide run into the generator wouldn't actually be something the movie would do. I can imagine comic editing around something like that would be difficult to do as well, though Jim does have Poe to use as a character still. Han is probably much less gung ho about this plan in the movie though; he's not looking excited in any of the frames here. Probably some combination of kidnapped daughter and mostly untested technology that he'll need to use is getting him down. Or perhaps everyone else is exclaiming how impossible it is to attack the Peace Moon for a rescue, as even with the macguffin modulator there'll still be hordes of TIE fighters to worry about on the inside of the shield.
Hm, there's actually no reason to go straight at the Peace Moon, at least not for the "getting through the shield" part anyway. The Millennium Falcon could jump through the shield at the edge of the planetoid, effectively skimming through the gap of atmosphere between ground and shield. That would be incredibly difficult to pull off if this wasn't a movie of course; but with the plot device modulator and the ace pilots Star Wars has, there shouldn't be any problems at all. Well. No problems flying in anyway.
Transcript
Zeppo: We fly toward the Peace Moon at lightspeed, but we don’t disengage the hyperdrive—
Admiral Ackbar: Yeess? Extrapolate...
Zeppo: —until we’re inside the shield! Then we pull up maybe a kilometre from the surface.
Admiral Ackbar: That’s claptrap!
Finn: Access the shield generator and disable it. Hmmm.
BB-8: That’s it! This is why we have the modulator! It’s the plot device we need to win the quest!
Admiral Ackbar: I appreciate your ultrapure motives, but what if that contraption fails?
Chewbacca: Then at least our deaths will be spectacular.
Zeppo: Exactly!
Chewbacca: That was not an unequivocal endorsement.
Zeppo: All right! Chewie’s on board. Who else?