Solo: A Star Wars Story star Alden Ehrenreich let it slip in his interview with Esquire that he’s signed onto multiple Star Wars films.
“I don’t know if that’s officially, uh, public. But–yeah,” he said reports The Hollywood Reporter, seemingly doubting if he should have let that detail slip.
Maybe that’ll get him in a bit of trouble with Disney, who also had to get at Mark Ruffalo for accidentally livestreaming the beginning of Thor: Ragnarok during the film’s premiere. But this bit of news is great for the rest of us, since if Ehrenreich has signed on for multiple films, then perhaps Donald Glover, who plays young Lando Calrissian, has signed on for multiples, too. Even better–what if one of those films happens to be a Lando origin story?
If there’s anyone from the Star Wars universe who needs an origin film, it’s Lando. He’s simultaneously one of the most interesting and one of the least explored characters in the franchise. Sure, the less we know about him, the more his mystique builds. But, at this point, it doesn’t make sense; how can Lando be so not worthy of an origin film, but Han Solo is, even though Han is not really that interesting when you take him out of Luke Skywalker’s story. Han’s character doesn’t change much throughout the course of the franchise; he’s a swindler and a ne’er-do-well who gets by on his charm. Even though he unwittingly becomes part of the Resistance and hooks up with Leia, he still remains a rogue at heart. For as much set dressing as there is on his character, he never truly matures.
Lando, however, does have an arc that we as the audience have come in on the tail end of in Star Wars: Episode V -The Empire Strikes Back. Han says he and Lando used to run together back in the day, but unbeknownst to Han, Lando has grown up; he’s the Baron Administrator of Cloud City. While he does strike a deal with Darth Vader to capture Luke, he did it so Vader wouldn’t destroy Cloud City and its inhabitants in the process. Even though Lando is still using his underhanded methods to get what he wants, at least he’s doing it for a different reason other than just trying to win a gamble.
Baron Administrator isn’t the only title Lando has held in his career after turning to the right side of the law. Lando is a businessman, running droid production company Calrissian Enterprises, and he was a Rebel Alliance general. There’s so much story that could be parsed through and so many layers of Lando’s character that could easily fill a franchise of films, much less one origin film. Disney would be missing a big opportunity if they never utilize the opportunity Lando affords them.
Also, if fan talk surrounding Solo is any indication, it seems like Lando is the most popular character of the film, even more popular than Han, the main character. Whenever a trailer drops or posters are released, all anyone talks about is Lando. Folks were losing their minds over Lando just from the quick glimpse we got of him in his fur pimp coat in the teaser.
Even at CinemaCon, the extended clip from Solo Disney decided to show attendees wasn’t about Han and Chewbacca, or Han and the new characters to the Star Wars franchise–it was about Han and Lando.
With so much buzz around Lando, it only makes sense for Disney to capitalize on the interest and start developing a Lando film. Fans would be happy, Glover would certainly be happy, and the Star Wars universe itself would further its mission to push past the Skywalker narrative and open the franchise up to more stories and more characters, especially black characters who rarely get featured in Star Wars to begin with.
Disney’s got the power to make a Lando movie; let’s just hope they don’t wait too long.