Lando Calrissian

Creation and development

When writing The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars creator George Lucas planned to introduce a gambler-type character, which eventually developed into Lando. Lucas envisioned him as a cool con man with the elegance of James Bond and the wit of Star Trek's Spock, who would be a foil to the "rough" swashbuckler Han Solo. The character would initially support the Empire—believing he could outsmart the Imperials—before coming to see the Rebellion as a more worthy cause.

Lucas thought Lando might look like a normal human, but might actually be a clone from a ruling clan of others just like him, which would cause Princess Leia to distrust him. Lando's clone faction would be partly responsible for the Galactic civil war featured in the original Star Wars trilogy. Lucas saw Lando as similar to Rudolph Valentino, "almost too perfect looking" due to his genes being manipulated in the cloning process.

Lando's cane in The Rise of Skywalker (2019) was designed to resemble Cloud City. The book The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker says the Aurebesh text on the cane reads "Baron Lando Calrissian". Fans, however, translated it as "Landonis Balthazar Calrissian III", which was confirmed to be Lando's full name by writers of The Rise of Skywalker.

Jonathan Kasdan, a co-writer of Solo: A Star Wars Story, stated that Lando is pansexual. Kasdan also said he would have loved to have put a "more explicitly LGBT" character into the film. When Donald Glover, who plays Lando, was asked about the character's pansexuality, he responded, "How can you not be pansexual in space? There's so many things to have sex with." In 2021, Lando appeared in a series of Marvel comics featuring LGBT characters.

Portrayal

Before Billy Dee Williams was cast as Lando, Yaphet Kotto was considered. When Williams read the script for The Empire Strikes Back, he thought Lando's cape and his surname "Calrissian" would be "interesting things to build a character around."

Megan Farokhmanesh of The Verge noted that while most characters in the films pronounce Han Solo's first name "Hahn" (), Lando pronounces it "Han" (). In Solo: A Star Wars Story, Donald Glover deliberately used "Han" instead of "Hahn" for consistency.

When Donald Glover sought Williams' advice about playing Lando for Solo, Williams told him, "Just be charming", which Glover felt was "the best advice".

Appearances

Film

Original trilogy

Lando Calrissian first appears in The Empire Strikes Back as an old friend of Han Solo. He is the previous owner of Han's ship, the Millennium Falcon, and he is the administrator of Cloud City. When Han, Princess Leia, Chewbacca, and C-3PO arrive at Cloud City, Lando welcomes them as guests, but soon betrays them to Darth Vader, who plans to use the group as bait to ensnare Luke Skywalker. Lando reveals later that he had reluctantly agreed to betray them after Vader threatened to put Cloud City under Imperial control if he refused. Lando allows Vader to freeze Han in carbonite, but when Vader takes Leia and Chewbacca prisoner, his conscience gets the better of him. In the ensuing evacuation of Cloud City, Lando helps the group escape in the Falcon. Soon after, he assists in rescuing Luke from the underside of Cloud City. Afterwards, he promises to help find Han.

In Return of the Jedi, Lando helps Luke rescue Han from the crime lord Jabba the Hutt. Later, Lando is made a general in the Rebel Alliance, and pilots the Millennium Falcon in an attack on the second Death Star.

Sequel trilogy

Lando did not appear in the first two films of the sequel trilogy—The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi—which displeased some fans, according to The Independent. Rian Johnson, the director of The Last Jedi, considered including Lando in the film, but ultimately decided against it. Lando appeared in the third film, The Rise of Skywalker. He helps Rey and her companions in their search for a Sith wayfinder, and later recruits fighters from across the galaxy to aid the Resistance in their battle on Exegol.

''Solo: A Star Wars Story''

Donald Glover portrays a younger Lando in the 2018 standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story, which takes place roughly thirteen years before The Empire Strikes Back. In the film, Lando is introduced as a gambler and semi-retired smuggler who owns a fast ship, the Millennium Falcon. Needing a ship to steal a load of starship fuel, Han tries to win the Falcon from Lando in a game of sabacc, but Lando cheats and beats Han. However, Lando agrees to join Han's mission in exchange for a percentage of the profits. During the heist and subsequent escape, Lando is injured. He abandons Han's group, but Han tracks him down and wins the Falcon from him.

In December 2020, Disney said it was developing a streaming series featuring Lando. In July 2023, it was reported that Glover would reprise the Lando role, and would co-write the series with his brother Stephen. In September of that year, it was announced that the project would be a feature film.

Television series

Billy Dee Williams reprised the role of Lando in the Star Wars Rebels episodes "Idiot's Array" and "The Siege of Lothal". In "Idiot's Array", Lando wins Chopper, 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. 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 Ezra Bridger.

Video games

Lando appears in various video games, including as a playable character in Star Wars Battlefront and Battlefront II. In Star Wars: Outlaws (2024), which is set between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, Lando is depicted as a charismatic, smooth-talking gambler and entrepreneur. He interacts with the game's protagonist, Kay Vess, providing assistance and engaging in several missions that align with the underworld of the galaxy. Lando is voiced by Lindsay Owen Pierre in Outlaws.

Comics

Lando appears in Marvel Comics' Lando (2015), a five-issue miniseries set shortly before the original trilogy. Lando has a brief appearance in the miniseries Shattered Empire (2015), which takes place after Return of the Jedi. He is also featured in the comic Lando: Double or Nothing (2018), a five-issue miniseries set just before Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The 2020 relaunch of Marvel's Star Wars series, picking up at the tail end of The Empire Strikes Back, reveals that Lando returns to Cloud City to retrieve Lobot and help Luke look for his lightsaber.

Books

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

''Star Wars Legends''

Following the acquisition of Lucasfilm by The Walt Disney Company in 2012, most of the licensed Star Wars novels and comics produced between 1977 and 2014 were rebranded as Star Wars Legends and declared non-canon to the franchise. The Legends works comprise a separate narrative universe.

Lando is featured in the Star Wars comic book series released by Marvel Comics. In the series, Lando's nemesis is the crime lord Drebble. Lando uses Drebble's name as a cover identity, so that any animosity towards Lando will be brought against Drebble. This scheme backfires when the exploits of Lando-as-Drebble are honored by the Rebellion, which results in Lando presenting an award to Drebble for Lando's own activities.

Lando is a supporting character in Legends novels that are set after Return of the Jedi. These novels, which include Timothy Zahn's Thrawn trilogy and the works of Kevin J. Anderson, frequently depict Lando getting involved in a variety of entrepreneurial schemes. In The Corellian Trilogy, Lando goes on a galaxy-wide hunt for a wealthy wife, ultimately marrying Tendra Risant. With his in-laws' money and his entrepreneurial abilities, he opens a mining facility on the Outer Rim planet of Dubrillion. In The New Jedi Order and beyond, Lando continues to be a valuable ally and friend to the Skywalker-Solo family. In Fury, the seventh novel of the Legacy of the Force series, Lando announces to Han and Leia that he and Tendra are having a child.

According to Anderson, Lucasfilm considered killing off Lando at one point.

''The Lando Calrissian Adventures''

The Lando Calrissian Adventures is a 1983 trilogy of science fiction novels by L. Neil Smith. The novels chronicle Lando's smuggling days before the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. The trilogy, which has been described as "space pulp", highlights the differences between Lando and Han Solo. The novels were released in July, October, and December 1983, and were originally published by Del Rey, a division of Ballantine Books.

Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu is the first novel in the trilogy, published on July 1, 1983. It has been described as a psychedelic fantasy novel. The story begins shortly after Lando wins the Millennium Falcon, and a droid, in a game of sabacc. Arriving on the planet Rafa IV to pick up the droid, Lando witnesses convicts harvesting mind-draining crystals which prolong the life of elite citizens. Lando is arrested and brought before the sorcerer Rokur Gepta, who offers to spare his life if he can locate the legendary Mindharp of the lost Sharu civilization. Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu is referenced in the novelization of Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The second novel in the trilogy, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon, was published on October 1, 1983. After selling a load of life-crystals, and accompanied by his droid Vuffi Raa, Lando attempts a career as an honest freighter captain. After some bad luck, he becomes nostalgic for his old smuggling trade. He is invited to a sabacc game on the planet Oseon, and is followed by Rokur Gepta. During the game, Lando is assaulted. He is put on trial for carrying a weapon, which is illegal on Oseon. He is offered a smuggling deal as an alternative to execution.

The third novel, Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka, was published on December 1, 1983. Nearly a year after leaving the Oseon system, Lando and Raa encounter the vacuum-breathing creature Lehesu, who hails from the ThonBoka nebula. A month later, Lando and Raa receive word that ThonBoka is under attack from the Imperial Centrality Navy. They rush to Lehesu's aid, and engage the Imperial forces in battle.

Video games

Williams reprised his role as Lando in Legends videogame Star Wars: Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, where he assists Kyle Katarn through the second half of the Nar Shaadaa levels and helps him reach Bespin. In Lego Star Wars: The Complete Saga, Calrissian is an unlockable playable character, having the characteristic of being able to kiss Leia's hand if she is nearby. Lando is also a playable character as a hero character for the Rebels in the video games Star Wars Battlefront and Star Wars: Battlefront II.

Reception

Author Adilufu Nama wrote in 2008 that Lando "offered a new benchmark in the status of black representation in science fiction cinema". According to Alyssa Rosenberg of The Washington Post, Lando is a "fascinating and fraught part of the Star Wars legacy and the conversation around race in science fiction". She added that "Lando's the only character in Star Wars with a truly comfortable sense of style." On his portrayal, she wrote, "One of Williams's accomplishments in Empire and Return of the Jedi is how much he [feels] like an old-fashioned movie star in a futuristic setting without making the performance seem incongruous." In a 1980 review of The Empire Strikes Back, Janet Maslin of The New York Times called Lando "exaggeratedly unctuous, untrustworthy and loaded with jive."

In 2015, Billy Dee Williams publicly admitted that he received backlash from children who were angered by Lando's betrayal of Han in The Empire Strikes Back. Williams felt that the situation would have been different if Lando had been played by a white actor. Williams wrote that "Lando is not black or white, he's just Lando. Above and beyond the arguments or discussions of bygone eras, he is of the future." He further stated,

Writing for The Verge, Megan Farokhmanesh criticized Jonathan Kasdan's assertion that Lando is pansexual as "a piss-poor shot at representation", and argued that Kasdan was conflating pansexuality with promiscuity. Farokhmanesh compared the assertion to J. K. Rowling's statement that her character Albus Dumbledore is gay, despite no Harry Potter media depicting this.

Notes

References

Citations

Works cited

References

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