The current trilogy of Star Wars movies has reintroduced a number of familiar faces from that galaxy far, far away. The likes of Leia, Luke, Han, Chewie, Artoo, Threepio and even Yoda have returned to the franchise, but one character has been conspicuous by their absence. We’re talking, of course, about smuggler turned Cloud City administrator Lando Calrissian.
Sure, Donald Glover’s about to play a younger version of Lando in Solo: A Star Wars Story (and everyone loves what they’ve seen of him so far), but Billy Dee Williams wasn’t seen or even alluded to in either The Force Awakens or The Last Jedi. And it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll appear in Episode IX, either. So, what happened to Lando then since Return of the Jedi to make him a no-show during the galaxy’s time of need?
Well, thanks to this new excerpt from an upcoming canon novel, we might have an idea. Star Wars: Last Shot – A Han and Lando novel will be split between three different time periods, exploring the Solo-Calrissian friendship at various stages of their lives. Intriguingly, the excerpt – released by StarWars.com – takes place during Ben Solo’s childhood and hints at a falling out between Han and Lando.
In particular, it features Han rudely woken up when looking after his young son. It turns out Lando is at the door and he proceeds to punch him in the face. Though bemused, Han thinks to himself: “I probably should have seen that coming.”
Han and Lando have always had a love-hate relationship, but this surprising greeting could suggest that something happens to the pair during the novel that will mean they never see each other again, hence why Lando is nowhere to be seen during the events of the Sequel Trilogy. On the other hand, a previous book – Bloodline – hinted that Lando was still on good terms with Leia. Maybe he just didn’t hold whatever Han had done wrong against the princess, though?
Fans can now pre-order Star Wars: Last Shot on Amazon ahead of its release on April 17th. Meanwhile, Lando will appear in Solo: A Star Wars Story when the film hits theaters on May 25th.
