The search for someone to star in Phil Lord and Chris Miller’s Han Solo-centric Star Wars prequel was reportedly very difficult, with every young dude in Hollywood vying for the gig. They eventually settled on Hail Caesar! breakout Alden Ehrenreich, but it sounds like Lucasfilm and Disney may now have stumbled onto another casting decision that could be significantly harder than finding a young Han Solo. That’s because, according to The Wrap, the studios are now looking for someone to play a young Lando Calrissian.
As iconic as Harrison Ford as Han Solo is, the idea of someone other than Billy Dee Williams playing Lando just seems wrong. Williams simply is Lando, and the only reason the audience is willing to give him a chance at redemption in Return Of The Jedi after his betrayal in The Empire Strikes Back is because of how irresistibly smooth Billy Dee Williams is. His name is synonymous with treachery among nerds, but everybody still likes Lando because he’s the coolest dude in the whole damn galaxy. If you put someone else in that stylish cape, he’ll almost certainly come across as a creep or an asshole.
We’re not saying that they shouldn’t try to cast someone as a young Lando, we’re saying that it’ll be nearly impossible to do it right. If anything, Lucasfilm should just reuse the Lando character model from the Star Wars Rebels cartoon and have Williams do the voice again. It’ll look ridiculous, but at least it’ll be the real Lando.