Donald Glover was just cast as suave smuggler Lando Calrissian in the untitled standalone Han Solo movie, and it could mean the former owner of the Millennium Falcon might show up in later movies like Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII.
Glover is a relatively big name for the upcoming standalone movie directed by Phil Lord and Chris Miller. Glover’s inclusion in the film most likely means Lando won’t just be a supporting character to Alden Ehrenreich’s new incarnation of a young Han Solo. If Lando was just going to show up for a cameo to hand the keys to the Falcon off to Han they could have cast any actor with a passing resemblance to original Lando actor Billy Dee Williams. Instead they went for someone who could embody the beloved character with a hefty helping of talent.
In the same way standalone film Rogue One is more directly related to the main episodic films than we originally thought, Lando’s newfound importance in the standalone Han Solo movie seems like another perfect opportunity to link them again.
The character recently appeared in an in-canon Star Wars Rebels episode voiced by Williams. Inviting the actor back in the flesh is almost too good to pass up.
Like the character’s initial Original Trilogy appearances, he could show up in the Sequel Trilogy sequels. In Episode VIII, it’s plausible that Lando could hear that his old buddy Han is dead and shows up at the funeral. Or better yet, now that Rey is busy training to be a Jedi, Chewie high tails it off of Ahch-To and shows up with the Falcon to let Lando take over the driver’s seat once again.
Willliams actually addressed the possibility of Lando’s return in 2015, saying:
I have a feeling I’m going to show up. There’s nothing I can really discuss about it at this stage. People think of me as the original cast, but I didn’t come in until the second movie. I did Empire and then I did Return of the Jedi, but I came in after everyone else was introduced … so I think they’re probably proceeding in that way. I can’t imagine them not bringing Lando back.
We can’t imagine them not bringing Williams as Lando back either.
