Lando Calrissian

• 1. Conception And Evolution

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  George Lucas began writing The Empire Strikes Back in 1978 with a specific character type in mind. He wanted a gambler who would serve as a foil to the rough swashbuckler Han Solo. This figure eventually became Lando Calrissian, designed with the elegance of James Bond and the wit of Star Trek's Spock. Lucas initially envisioned him as someone who might actually be a clone from a ruling clan. This genetic manipulation was meant to make Princess Leia distrust him immediately upon meeting him. The plan included a clone faction that would partly cause the Galactic civil war featured in the original trilogy. Lucas saw Lando as similar to Rudolph Valentino because he was almost too perfect looking due to his genes being manipulated. When Billy Dee Williams read the script for The Empire Strikes Back, he thought Lando's cape and surname Calrissian were interesting things to build a character around. Before Williams was cast, Yaphet Kotto was considered for the role. Jonathan Kasdan later stated that Lando is pansexual when co-writing Solo: A Star Wars Story.

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• 2. Cinematic Portrayals

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  Billy Dee Williams portrayed Lando in The Empire Strikes Back released in 1980 and Return of the Jedi released in 1983. He also appeared in the sequel film The Rise of Skywalker released in 2019. Williams was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performance in Empire and Jedi. Donald Glover portrays Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story which came out in 2018. Glover is expected to reprise the role in another film currently in development. Megan Farokhmanesh of The Verge noted that most characters pronounce Han Solo's first name Hahn but 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. Glover felt this was the best advice he could receive. Billy Dee Williams reprised the role of Lando in the Star Wars Rebels episodes Idiot's Array and The Siege of Lothal. In 2024, Lando appears as a playable character in Star Wars: Outlaws where he is voiced by Lindsay Owen Pierre.

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• 3. Narrative Arcs In Films

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  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 serves as administrator of Cloud City. When Han Princess Leia Chewbacca and C-3PO arrive at Cloud City Lando welcomes them as guests. Soon after he 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. In The Rise of Skywalker he helps Rey and her companions search for a Sith wayfinder. He later recruits fighters from across the galaxy to aid the Resistance in their battle on Exegol.

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• 4. Expanded Universe Adventures

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  The 1983 trilogy of science fiction novels by L. Neil Smith chronicles Lando's smuggling days before the events of the original Star Wars trilogy. The first novel Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu was published on the 1st of July 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. The second novel Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon was published on the 1st of October 1983. After selling a load of life-crystals and accompanied by his droid Vuffi Raa Lando attempts a career as an honest freighter captain. He is invited to a sabacc game on the planet Oseon and is followed by Rokur Gepta. During the game Lando is assaulted and 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 the 1st of December 1983. Nearly a year after leaving the Oseon system Lando and Raa encounter the vacuum-breathing creature Lehesu who hails from the ThonBoka nebula.

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• 5. Representation And Reception

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  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. 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. He further stated that Lando is not black or white but just Lando above and beyond the arguments or discussions of bygone eras. Writing for The Verge Megan Farokhmanesh criticized Jonathan Kasdan's assertion that Lando is pansexual as a piss-poor shot at representation. She argued that Kasdan was conflating pansexuality with promiscuity.

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• 6. Pansexuality And Identity

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  Jonathan Kasdan 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 are so many things to have sex with according to his response. In 2021 Lando appeared in a series of Marvel comics featuring LGBT characters. The book The Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker says the Aurebesh text on Lando's 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. Lando's cane in The Rise of Skywalker was designed to resemble Cloud City. In the novel Star Wars: Last Shot released after Return of the Jedi Lando considers settling down with a Twi'lek girlfriend. 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.

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