Donald Glover is headed to galaxies unknown.
On Friday, Oct. 21, it was announced that the actor-musician has been cast as a young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming untitled Han Solo Star Wars spin-off, Starwars.com reports.
According to reports, the highly anticipated Disney and Lucasfilm’s collaboration is set for release in 2018, with directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller helming the project. Meanwhile, Alden Ehrenreich, best known for his role in Beautiful Creatures, has nabbed the iconic role of Solo, originally played by Harrison Ford.
As fans know far too well, Lando Calrissian, originally played by Billy Dee Williams, made his appearance in The Empire Strikes Back as the head of Cloud City, a floating city above the planet Bespin. He has a competitive and strained friendship with Solo, having lost the starship Millennium Falcon to the smuggler and future rebel commander in a card game.
According to THR, the upcoming film will explore a previously unseen side of Calrissian (including how he lost the Millennium Falcon), with “his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld,” said Lucasfilm.
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller 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.”
Glover, aka Childish Gambino, is a favorite in the fan community. Best known for creating and starring in the critically acclaimed FX series “Atlanta,” his accomplishments also include starring in four seasons of NBC’s hit series “Community,” and dropping a Grammy-nominated album titled “Because the Internet.” In 2012, fans launched a campaign calling for him to play Spider-Man when Sony was working on the reboot that eventually became The Amazing Spider-Man. Though he did not land the role, fans will be able to catch him in all his glory, in the upcoming Spider-Man: Homecoming.
Congrats to Glover on his epic new role. Show him some love in the comment section below.
