Originally published December 23, 2017. Updated April 16, 2018.
We’re two movies into the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy now and to the disappointment of many fans, there’s been no sign of Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian. Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has revealed that he did give some thought to using the galaxy’s smoothest smuggler in the role that was ultimately filled by DJ, played by Benicio Del Toro.
“In terms of Lando, I briefly considered — would he work in the Benicio [Del Toro] part, [but] I don’t think you would ever buy that Lando would just completely betray the characters like that and have that level of moral ambiguity,” Johnson told The Playlist. “Cause we love Lando and you’d come into it with that [expectation]. And also, DJ, the character that they met, for the purposes of Finn’s character, had to be a morally ambiguous character that you’re not sure about, that you’re guessing about, and we already know that we love the character of Lando so it just wouldn’t have played in that part story wise.”
Probably a wise decision on Johnson’s part, as Lando betraying Finn and Rose to the First Order will surely not have sat well with fans. Let’s hope we get to see him popping up in Star Wars: Episode IX, although failing that, we do have his appearance in Solo: A Star Wars Story to look forward to this coming May, with Donald Glover taking on the role made famous by Billy Dee Williams.
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In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park) as Vice Admiral Holdo.
