Rumour: Is Lando set to return for Star Wars 9?

Is Billy Dee Williams getting measured up for capes as we speak?

Because rumour has it that he could be reprising his role as the wily Cloud City administrator, inveterate gambler and general galactic scoundrel Lando Calrissian.

There’s already been chatter about the possibility of him appearing in J.J. Abrams’ last movie in the current trilogy.

A tweet from the MegaCon Orlando fan convention posed a ‘fun Billy Dee Williams fact’ which set tongues wagging in May, explaining how the 81-year-old actor trains ‘three times a week and has a whole new diet’.

Putting two and two together, fans reckoned this could only mean one thing.

But there’s now more to go on courtesy of Star Wars fansite Fantha Tracks, which is confirming that Dee Williams is on board, and that an announcement will be made shortly.

It cites two independently verified sources for the story.

Cameras are set to roll on the sequel next month, so the timing of an announcement could make sense.

How he would return, and in what capacity, is unknown, but there’s speculation that with the Rebel Alliance left in dire straits following the events of The Last Jedi, Calrissian and his forces on Cloud City could be called upon to help, as they have in the past.

And, of course, Calrissian is a massive fan favourite, following his scene-stealing turns in the Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.

This is also bolstered by Donald Glover’s playing the young Lando in the recent Solo: A Star Wars Story.

While often tight-lipped about, well, everything, it would perhaps make sense to drop some good news around the saga, given recent criticism over the behaviour of certain corners of the fanbase.

The Last Jedi star Kelly Marie Tran has hit headlines in recent weeks, after she quit her hugely popular Instagram feed.

Fans noted that her departure had followed months of racist and sexist abuse online.

The likes of Rian Johnson and Mark Hamill leapt to her defence, and slated the ‘manbabies’ who have also harassed the likes of Daisy Ridley and Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy.

A far-right anti-Disney group has since claimed ‘credit’ for the harassment.

Read more
Critics call Incredibles 2 ‘best superhero movie ever’
9 surprising actors almost cast in Star Wars
Wonder Woman 1984 – everything we know so far