Buckle Up, Baby: Lucasfilm Wants To Make A Lando Calrissian 'Star Wars' Spin-Off
Solo: A Star Wars Story is still a little over a week away from hitting theaters, but the first reviews hit the web yesterday, and you'll find that one character everyone can't stop raving about is Lando Calrissian. Played by Donald Glover, the character brings the right amount of swagger and charm to Han Solo's origin story, and it sounds like that might be enough for him to get a Star Wars Story of his own.
Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy has been making the publicity rounds for Solo in the wake of the world premiere in Los Angeles and the Cannes Film Festival screening earlier this week. She spoke to Premiere France (via Cinema Blend) about what's next for Lucasfilm when it comes to the in-between movies under the Star Wars Story moniker, and she gave a surprisingly straight-forward answer:
"We think that the next spin-off will be dedicated to Lando Calrissian. Of course, there are still many stories to tell about Han and Chewbacca, but Lando will be next."
However, Lucasfilm told io9 shortly after this quote started making the rounds online that the quote in question from the French magazine was not translated correctly. Kennedy instead said something akin to the Lando Calrissian movie being something she'd like to do some day, but there are no concrete plans for it to be the next spin-off just yet. But we hope that decision ends up being the one Lucasfilm makes.
Without spoiling Solo: A Star Wars Story, there are a couple threads left dangling that could lead to possible sequels featuring Han Solo and Chewbacca. But with Lando Calrissian being such a hit with those who have seen Solo so far (and even audiences who haven't seen the whole movie yet seem on board with this take on the character), it only makes sense to take advantage of Donald Glover's sensational performance and give him his own movie.
Beyond that, in case you haven't noticed, movies with black actors and actresses in the lead have been doing phenomenally well at the box office. Last year, Get Out rode a wave of acclaim and box office success all the way to a Best Picture nomination. Girls Trip was one of the breakout comedy hits of last summer. And Black Panther is one of the highest grossing blockbusters of all time. So you can bet Lucasfilm is looking to diversify their roster of lead characters by letting Lando Calrissian lead the way.
Lando Calrissian Holds So Many Possibilities
What's great about Lando Calrissian is that there's still so much we don't know about him. While Solo: A Star Wars Story has to set up the origin of a character fans know so well, Lando is a character who still has a lot left to define in his life. Sure, his reputation as one of the smoothest motherf***ers in the galaxy must play a part, but there's so much left to explore about his life.
A recent comic book miniseries focusing on Lando Calrissian began in 2015, which could provide some interesting inspiration for a Lando movie. That arc featured the likeness of Billy Dee Williams as Lando as he embarked on a heist to steal Emperor Palpatine's private yacht full of Sith artifacts. While that would make a hell of a movie, it's a story that's already been told, so it's not likely to head to the big screen. But another heist only makes sense for the character.
Meanwhile, there's also inspiration that can be drawn from a forthcoming Lando comic miniseries called Double or Nothing that features Donald Glover's likeness as Lando. But that comic series takes place before Solo: A Star Wars Story, and presumably a big screen spin-off would take place after the events of that movie. That's just speculation on our part, but since Lando gets such a great introduction in Solo, it feels silly to redo that with his own origin story.
We're just happy that we probably haven't seen the last of Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian. Hopefully, the audience turnout and reaction for Solo: A Star Wars Story is good enough that we'll get to see him back with Han and Chewie in yet another adventure too. Having those three together is a blast, and they need another movie together. But a movie focusing on Lando Calrrissian out on his own would be sublime.
In the meantime, you can read our review for Solo right here, and see the movie when it arrives on May 25, 2018.