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Calrissian Chronicles

Get to know the Man behind the smile

Landonis Balthazar Calrissian

Baron Landonis Balthazar "Lando" Calrissian III^[a] is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. In The Empire Strikes Back (1980), Lando is introduced as an old friend of Han Solo. Prior to the events of the film, Lando made a career as a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, businessman, and was the owner of the Millennium Falcon until losing the ship to Han in a bet. He has become the Baron Administrator of Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin, and in the film, reluctantly betrays Han to Darth Vader. In Return of the Jedi (1983), he helps rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and becomes a general in the Rebel Alliance and leads the attack on the second Death Star. He is portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the original trilogy, as well as The Rise of Skywalker (2019), marking one of the longest intervals between portrayals of a character by the same actor in American film history.^[3]

Donald Glover portrayed a younger version of the character in the standalone Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018).^[4] Lando also appears frequently in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels, comic books and video games, including a series of Legends novels in which he is the protagonist.

Concept and creation

Development

Actor Yaphet Kotto was an early choice for the role of Lando Calrissian, but chose to star in the prison drama Brubaker instead.^[5] In writing The Empire Strikes Back, Lucas initially considered that Lando Calrissian was a clone from a planet of clones which caused the Clone Wars mentioned in A New Hope.^[6][7] An early trailer for the film introduced him as "Landau Calrissian".^[^{citation needed}^]

Portrayals

Lando was portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back, Return of the Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker, and was played by Donald Glover in the film Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The Verge noted that despite Han Solo's first name being written as "Han" and franchise creator George Lucas also pronouncing the name as "Han" (hæn) off-screen, within the films most characters, including Luke Skywalker, pronounce it as "Hahn" (hɑn). The Verge also noted how Billy Dee Williams' Lando seems to be the only character to pronounce it as "Han" like Lucas, and that when, in The Empire Strikes Back, Lando is choked by Chewbacca for betraying Han, Lando causes most other characters to shift to "Han". In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Glover decided to deliberately use "Han" instead of the other characters "Hahn" in order to honor the character's trait.^[8]

Dialogue in Solo suggests that Lando is sexually interested in men, women, and droids, including both Han and L3-37. When asked about a scene where L3 jokes about Lando's flirtatiousness towards Han, writer Lawrence Kasdan said, "That is her personality. Maybe it means something, maybe it doesn't." Co-writer Jonathan Kasdan confirmed that Lando is pansexual, stating, "There's a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee's [portrayal of Lando's] sexuality [...] I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it's time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity ― sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of. He doesn't make any hard and fast rules."^[9]

Appearances

Original trilogy

Lando Calrissian first appears in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as the administrator of Cloud City, an old friend of Han Solo (Harrison Ford), and the former owner of Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon. When Han, Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and C-3PO (Anthony Daniels) arrive at Cloud City, Lando welcomes them as guests of honor - only to betray them to Darth Vader (portrayed by David Prowse, voiced by James Earl Jones), who plans to use them as bait to ensnare Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). Lando had reluctantly agreed to betray Han and company after Vader threatened to put Cloud City under the Galactic Empire's control if he refused. Lando allows Vader to freeze Han in carbonite and give him to bounty hunter Boba Fett) (Jeremy Bulloch); when Vader takes Leia and Chewbacca prisoner, however, Lando's conscience gets the better of him and he helps them escape. In the ensuing evacuation of Cloud City, he helps them escape in the Falcon. He later assists in rescuing Luke from the underside of Cloud City. Afterwards, he promises to help find Han.

In Return of the Jedi (1983), Lando goes undercover to help Luke rescue Han from crime lord Jabba the Hutt. During a battle with Jabba's henchmen, Han saves Lando from being devoured by the Sarlacc; Lando then helps Han and the others destroy Jabba's barge. For his heroics, he is made a general in the Rebel Alliance. Lando then takes the pilot chair in his old ship, the Millennium Falcon, and leads the attack on the second Death Star. He leads the Rebel strike on the battle station, and personally destroys its power core, causing the station to explode. He then joins the other Rebels on Endor in celebrating their victory and the end of the Empire.

Sequel trilogy

Lando did not appear in the first film of the sequel trilogy, The Force Awakens (2015). According to Williams, the reason Lando did not return may have been that he did not fit into the storyline.^[10] His absence from the casting announcement caused the displeasure of some fans.^[11]

Lando was also absent from The Last Jedi (2017).^[12] During the early development of the film, director Rian Johnson briefly considered bringing back Lando as the codebreaker that Resistance members Finn (John Boyega) and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran) seek in the coastal city of Canto Bight, but Lando was finally written out of the film's script, with the codebreaker role ultimately going to Benicio del Toro's character DJ.^[13]

In the years of peace after the Galactic Civil War, Lando attempted to start a family, and his daughter was born. In the time they were together, he was a loving father, however when she was two years old, she vanished, kidnapped by unknown culprits. In time, it became clear that the First Order was behind both her abduction and those of other children of former Rebel leaders. After the tragedy of losing his daughter and his failure in a quest with Luke Skywalker to find answers about the growing darkness in the Force, Calrissian settled on the desert planet of Pasaana to lead the life of a "Hermit." Lando appears in The Rise of Skywalker (2019), first appearing on the desert planet of Passana, guiding Rey (Daisy Ridley), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Finn, and Chewbacca toward a clue for the whereabouts of the Sith wayfinder. Poe asks Lando to aid the Resistance, but Lando refuses, saying he does not fly anymore, but sends his regards to Leia. Lando reappears much later in the film, upon Leia's death, and he tells a grieving Poe that he, Luke, Leia, and Han were similarly unprepared when they were fighting the Empire, but that they were able to succeed because they had each other. This inspires Poe to launch a final offensive against the Final Order, with Lando traveling the galaxy to recruit Rebel veterans and other supporters of the Resistance's cause to help in the final battle. Just as the Resistance appears most overwhelmed in the battle, Lando, Chewbacca, and Wedge Antilles (Denis Lawson) arrive in the Millennium Falcon alongside a massive fleet of Resistance sympathizers, allies, and veterans, and they help to win the battle and the war. At the end of the film, as the galaxy is celebrating the Resistance's victory, Jannah (Naomi Ackie), a former stormtrooper, approaches Lando and says she does not know where she is from; he tells her that they will find out together.

Anthology films

Donald Glover portrays a young Lando Calrissian in Solo: A Star Wars Story, which takes place before the original trilogy.^[4][14] Glover had the opportunity to speak with Billy Dee Williams and seek his input. "He said, 'Just be charming'. Which is the best advice."^[15] Williams had expressed interest in making a cameo appearance (though likely as another character) in the film, but he did not ultimately appear.^[16]

Lando is introduced as a gambler and "retired" smuggler who owns a ship fast enough for Han (Alden Ehrenreich) and his associates to use in stealing a load of raw starship fuel. Han tries to win the ship (the Millennium Falcon) from him in a game of sabacc, but Lando cheats and cleans Han out. However, Lando agrees to join the team in exchange for a percentage of the profits from the mission. During the heist and subsequent escape, Lando is injured and his droid co-pilot L3-37 is irreparably damaged, but Han brings the Falcon to safety with help from L3's navigational database after he hotwires it into the ship's computer. Lando later takes the Falcon and abandons the team, but Han tracks him down and wins it from him in another game of sabacc, having stolen the card Lando had up his sleeve to let him cheat.

Kathleen Kennedy said, in a statement, that a film focusing on Lando Calrissian could happen, but it would not be a priority at the time.^[17]

Star Wars Rebels

Billy Dee Williams returned to the role in the Star Wars Rebels episodes "Idiot's Array" and "The Siege of Lothal". ^[18]

In "Idiot's Array", Lando wins Chopper (voiced by Dave Filoni), the repair droid of the crew of the Ghost, in a game of sabacc, forcing the crew to assist him with a dangerous smuggling run to get their droid back. The crew become Lando's reluctant business partners following the ordeal, leading to their first encounter with the crime boss Azmorigan (voiced by James Hong). In "The Siege of Lothal", the crew of the Ghost approach Lando for help in getting off of Lothal, which is under Imperial occupation. He is also mentioned on occasion in various other episodes, becoming one of a couple of aliases employed by series protagonist Ezra Bridger (voiced by Taylor Gray).

Video Games

Billy Dee Williams reprises his role as Lando Calrissian in various games, including as a playable character in Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II. However only the second is canonical to the storyline of the films, due to the first game not containing any kind of narrative.^[19]

Comics

Lando Calrissian is the lead character in Lando, a five-issue miniseries published in 2015.^[19] Lando has a brief appearance in the comic miniseries Shattered Empire published by Marvel Comics in 2015. Lando is also the lead character in the comic Lando: Double or Nothing, a five-issue miniseries released in 2018.

Books

The novel Star Wars: Last Shot reveals that between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, Lando is considering settling down with a Twi'lek girlfriend.^[20]