The Star Wars universe just got a little Billy Dee Williamsier … again! According to the Hollywood Reporter, the actor will be reprising his role as Lando Calrissian, the intergalactic scoundrel and sometime friend to Han Solo he played in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Williams will appear in the as-yet-untitled Episode IX, which J.J. Abrams is directing.
Rumors that Williams would return began spreading when he dropped out of an upcoming fan convention over a scheduling conflict. Although this will be his first appearance as Calrissian in a Star Wars movie since 1983, Williams has voiced the role in several video games and TV series. Most recently, Donald Glover played a young Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Unfortunately for Star Wars fans who are hoping Episode IX will be a paperwork-heavy look at Calrissian’s bureaucratic work as the administrator of Cloud City, John Hollis, the actor who played Lando’s cyborg sidekick Lobot, died in 2005. But there’s still a chance Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and the rest of the Star Wars crew will have to team up to steal Lobot’s body and smuggle it through First Order customs so they can fulfill his final wish of being cremated in Joshua Tree like his idol Gram Parsons. We’ll find out more when Episode IX hits theaters on Dec. 20, 2019.
