The rumors have been circulating for a few weeks. But now you can rest easy knowing that Donald Glover will play young Lando Calrissian. The good news comes directly from StarWars.com, where the press release reveals a little more about the role.
The multi-talented Glover will play Lando in the Han Solo spinoff film. He joins Alden Ehrenreich, who will play the young Solo after charming critics in Hail, Caesar! This new movie will explore a time in Han and Lando’s lives that the current canon hasn’t yet touched. According to the press release, we will see a Lando “in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld.” When is that, exactly? The best answer we have is “years before” The Empire Strikes Back. That’s awfully vague, but I’ll venture a guess that it’s years before the Original Trilogy, which means before Rogue One. But is it before his appearance in Star Wars Rebels? Lucasfilm currently regards that show as canon, so I’m sure the good folks of Wookieepedia are eager to know.
The Lego Movie directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller will direct the Han Solo movie. “These are big shoes to fill and an even bigger cape,” they said in the press release. They’re darn right — Billy Dee Williams was iconic in the role. When the character showed up on Star Wars Rebels last year, who did they call to voice him? Billy Dee Williams. Glover has charm to spare, and I know he’ll bring that to the role. But fans expect more than just an imitation. But fear not — I believe that Donald Glover will make the role his own while capturing what we love about Williams’s performance.
You will see the Han Solo spinoff movie (Star Wars: Going Solo?) when it hits theaters in 2018.