After months of speculation that Community actor Donald Glover was the leading candidate to play a young version of Lando Calrissian in the upcoming, still-untitled Han Solo movie, Lucasfilm has officially confirmed the casting.
Glover will take on the role originally played by Billy Dee Williams in Star Wars: Episode V — The Empire Strikes Back and Episode VI — Return of the Jedi, and joins previously announced actor Alden Ehrenreich, who was cast as the young Han Solo back in July.
The announcement was made by Lucasfilm on StarWars.com, and indicated that Glover’s role will “depict 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.”
Glover is best known for his work on the comedy series Community, as well as for his Grammy-nominated album Because the Internet and his role in the Oscar-nominated film The Martian. He currently serves as the creator and star of the FX series Atlanta.
Directed by The Lego Movie and 21 Jump Street filmmakers Christopher Miller and Phil Lord from a screenplay penned by Lawrence Kasdan and Jon Kasdan, the Han Solo movie will also feature the smuggler’s famous co-pilot and partner, Chewbacca, and is expected to shed some light on how the pair first met.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller in a statement accompanying the announcement. “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.”
The still-untitled film is currently scheduled to hit theaters May 25, 2018.
