The upcoming Hans Solo film is likely to showcase a deeper backstory to frienemy Lando Calrissian, a role Donald Glover has been cast to play, thus making him cooler than all of us.
Announced on Friday (Oct 21), by StarWars.com, the artist will play a younger version of the unofficial mayor of Cloud City in the unnamed young Han Solo Star Wars spinoff. Cali native Alden Ehrenreich was cast as a young Han Solo in May. The story, directed by duo Phil Lord and Christopher Miller, will give fans untold stories of Lando and “his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld.” The film will also share how the “con-man at heart” loses the Millennium Falcon to Solo, hinted in 1980’s The Empire Strikes Back.
Billy Dee Williams previously played the role. The film will be the first time the series will feature original trilogy characters before the original 1977 Star Wars film, The Hollywood Reporter adds.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” Lord and Miller said in a statement. “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 film doesn’t hit theaters until May 2018, but plenty of eyes are focused on Glover. The rapper-actor extraordinaire is the creator of the critically acclaimed series Atlanta and quietly treated fans to new material at a two-day festival at Joshua Tree in September. The film credit adds to his already long reel including The Martian, Magic Mike XXL and The Lazarus Effect. Glover also has a mystery role in the upcoming Spider-man: Homecoming film.