Donald Glover will be slipping into Billy Dee Williams’ cape. The Community actor has been cast by Lucasfilm to play a young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Star Wars standalone film centering on a young Han Solo.
The still untitled film is set to be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller and will team Glover with Alden Ehrenreich who has already been cast as young Han Solo.
In a statement released on StarWars.com, the directors stated –
We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us. 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.
StarWars.com goes on to explain how he will fit into the young Han Solo story –
This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.
Glover had been rumored for the role a few months back, but given his geek status earned while on Community for four seasons and appearing in last year’s The Martian, there was bound to be some who would draw a line to the actor possibly landing this particular role.
Miller and Lord’s Han Solo film is set for release in 2018.
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