As the co-writer of Star Wars: The Force Awakens - alongside director J.J. Abrams - Lawrence Kasdan has a pretty big say in the future of the legendary franchise. As a result, if he says that the story of Lando Calrissian isn't quite over, it's rather easy to believe him. Thankfully, that's exactly the sentiment that the filmmaker recently shared in an interview, and while there isn't exactly a timetable for the character's reappearance, it does sound like we haven't seen the last of him.
As part of their special recent Star Wars issue, Vanity Fair recently had the opportunity to sit down and talk with Kasdan about the future of the famed sci-fi franchise, and it was at the very end of their conversation that the subject of Lando Calrissian - the character famously played by Billy Dee Williams in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. Asking a question at the behest of his son, the reporter asked if we've seen the end of the smooth-talking smuggler, and, fortunately for audiences worldwide, Kasdan gave a very optimistic response. Said the filmmaker,
Right now, there’s no Lando Calrissian in this movie. But Lando I don’t think is finished in any way, shape, or form.
Obviously that's an extremely open-ended answer, and really could be years and years before we actually get to see the former Baron Administrator of Cloud City again, but Lawrence Kasdan's comments still inspire hope that he will see him sooner rather than later. After all, even though the guy was introduced as a backstabber and coward, he made up for those failings by being a real hero and successfully blowing up the second Death Star. He's a key character in franchise lore, and it would be an honest mistake for no project to ever bring him back into the mix.
The good news is that Billy Dee Williams sounds like he would be more than happy to make a comeback as Lando Calrissian in one of the planned live-action movies. Not only did the actor reprise the role on an episode of Star Wars Rebels in the show's first season, but just a few months ago he went on record saying that he has a feeling that he's "going to show up." It certainly would be a "back by popular demand" situation, and one would be hard-pressed to find a fan of the long-running series who doesn't want to see more of Lando.
The Lando-less Star Wars: The Force Awakens will be dropping into theaters on December 17th, but maybe he'll be back for the Rian Johnson-directed Star Wars: Episode VIII, which is on the books to be released on May 26, 2017.
