The Star Wars search for a young Lando Calrissian is over: on Friday, Lucasfilm announced that Donald Glover—the versatile actor, writer, and Grammy-nominated rapper currently starring on Atlanta, the FX series he created—will take over the beloved character originally portrayed by Billy Dee Williams. Williams and original trilogy star Harrison Ford had quite the chemistry, and the still-untitled Han Solo spinoff will prove whether Ford’s successor, Alden Ehrenreich, and Glover can summon the same sparks. While most details of the film are being kept under wraps, we do know that the project will depict a period in Lando and Han’s lives that has not previously been explored.
In a statement on Friday, Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, the directors of the spinoff, shared their excitement over the casting news.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said The Lego Movie filmmakers. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”
This past June, Glover also boarded another mega franchise, Spider-Man—some six years after he first launched his own Internet campaign to star as the title character.
Although Glover did not take to the Internet to petition for the Star Wars role, he did make it clear this August that George Lucas’s sci-fi series had a very special place in his heart. “I mean, I grew up on it,” Glover told Time, about the franchise, this summer. “My dad was a big fan. I had all the toys when I was little. I had a Darth Vader with the lightsaber he has. It was cool. It’s a dynasty. It’s like the bible. I love that franchise.”
In the words of Lando himself, we wish Glover good luck!
As was reported earlier this year, the Star Wars spin-off will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy and Lawrence Kasdan, and based on a script from Kasdan and his son Jon Kasdan. According to a report from The Wrap this May, “The film is expected to follow Solo before he links up with the rebel alliance. Chewbacca will play a key role, and it’s entirely possible that young Han could cross paths with the bounty hunter known as Boba Fett.”
