A galactic welcome is in order for Star Wars’ newest resident. Donald Glover has been cast as young Lando Calrissian in the upcoming Star Wars standalone movie opposite Alden Ehrenreich as Han Solo, the franchise announced on Friday, October 21.
“Hello, what have we here?” reads a message from the official Star Wars Twitter account. “Donald Glover is Lando Calrissian in the untitled 2018 Han Solo Star Wars Story.”
Glover, 33, has long been a favorite among fans to play the part; in the new as-yet-unnamed film, the Community alum will portray Lando’s formative years as a “scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld,” the official site reads. (The role was played in the last two films of the original trilogy by Billy Dee Williams.)
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” directors Phil Lord and Christopher 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.”
Glover’s fans previously launched a campaign in 2011 to ask Sony to cast him as Spider-Man in a role that eventually went to Andrew Garfield. The actor did, however, later go on to voice Spider-Man Miles Morales on Disney XD’s animated series Ultimate Spider-Man, and he is set to be a part of next year’s Spider-Man: Homecoming.
