Later this week we will get announcements about future Star Wars projects when Celebration takes place, but one project that’s been in limbo for a few years is a spin-off story about Lando Calrissian.
Back in 2020 Lucasfilm formally announced that a project titled Lando was coming, but we’ve heard nothing about it since. But it sounds like it’s still very much in the mix, as Donald Glover recently mentioned that there are talks ongoing about a return as the iconic character. In a video for GQ in which Glover discusses some of his most notable roles, he had this to say about putting on the cape again:
“I would love to play Lando again. It’s a fun time, to be him. It just needs to be the right way to do it. I’m all about, like, now, time is precious. I think everybody the past couple years of pandemic has, like, really had people experience time in a way where they’re like, ‘why am I, I should be around oranges!’ Like, people kinda realize their time is valuable. You only get so much. So, like, I’m not interested in doing anything that’s just going to be like a waste of my time or just a paycheck. I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. So it just has to be the right thing. Which I think it could be. I mean, Lando’s definitely somebody I’d like to hang out with. So we’re talking about it. That’s as much as I can say without Kathleen Kennedy hunting me down.”
A few things stand out about his answer. First, he says he would love to play Lando again. Second, he then talks about how precious time is, which reading between the lines could suggest that the big obstacle in the way of him playing Lando again isn’t the money or things like that, but figuring out the time. Glover is a busy guy who is carving out quite a name for himself as he’s got a variety of projects in the works, so it’s about figuring out time to do it. But, third, he says that talks are ongoing about it. That’s something that Kathy Kennedy mentioned last year in interviews at Celebration, so it’s not like this is moving at a rapid pace, but it’s good to hear that the discussions are still happening.
I’m hopeful that we’ll see Donald Glover return to the role eventually, since he did such a terrific job in Solo. I would still love to see a continuation of that story, but regardless, it sounds like the most momentum around it is with Glover as Calrissian. That would be fantastic, and it’d be even better if they figured out a way to pull Billy Dee Williams into it too. Perhaps something like where Williams, as an older Lando, starts off talking about a story from the “Calrissian Chronicles” before we cut to Glover as a younger Lando and get to see the story happen.
There’s a lot of ways Glover’s return could work, and it seems there’s some momentum on it happening.
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