We’re (some of us, anyway) still wary of the Han Solo movie arriving in theaters later this month, especially after its directorial troubles—though Ron Howard’s hands are about the safest you can be in. That doesn’t mean there aren’t parts of it we’re excited about, though, and topping that list is Donald Glover appearing as Lando Calrissian, bringing the original trilogy character back to the screen for the first time since Return of the Jedi.
After all, Han’s already gotten a pretty full character arc in the movies, even becoming the first of the main cast to get a meaningful final curtain call in The Force Awakens. Lando, on the other hand, has been nowhere to be found in the sequel trilogy, despite getting a scoundrel-to-hero arc similar to Han’s in the original movies. We’re glad for an opportunity to spend more time with the character, even if we have to go back in time to do it.
From what we’ve seen so far, Donald Glover is excellent in the role, and this clip expands on one of his best moments in the trailers so far, telling Han, “Everything you’ve heard about me is true.” Not only is it a great first introduction to Lando over a game of sabacc—one where it seems Han may be playing into Lando’s confidence on purpose—but the full scene provides a retcon for one of the weirdest things about the original trilogy: Lando’s pronunciation of Han’s name.
In the original trilogy, it just seemed kind of weird that Billy Dee Williams pronounced “Han” differently from everyone else—to everyone but the characters in the movies, that is. They just kind of rolled with it, but Solo goes back and makes it purposeful by having Han address it directly, leveraging that bit of OT weirdness for a joke by making it seem more like an intentional burn from Lando. Honestly, I wrote just two days ago that I’m tired of Star Wars movies reusing the same references over and over, and I’m glad to not only get a fresh one here, but one that’s cleverly put to good use in its own right, making it easily my favorite part of Solo marketing yet.
(image: Disney/Lucasfilm)
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