Donald Glover Steps Back Into Lando Role For Upcoming Star Wars Series

Donald Glover is gearing up to step back into his role as Lando Calrissian in the Star Wars universe, as Disney+ has ordered a new series fully focused on the character. Above The Line reported Thursday (July 27) that both Childish Gambino and his brother Stephen Glover have been tapped by the streamer to write the show – aptly titled Lando. The former will also star, after first portraying the character in the 2018 prequel, Solo: A Star Wars Story.

The brothers replace prior writer Justin Simien (Dear White People), as he’s been busy with the new Haunted Mansion film as of late.

In a conversation with GQ in April, Donald Glover said: “I would love to play Lando again. It’s a fun time, being him. It just has to be the right way to do it. Time is precious. I’m not interested in doing anything that’s going to be a waste of my time or just a paycheck.

“I’d much rather spend time with people that I enjoy. It just has to be the right thing, and I think it could be. Lando is definitely somebody I like to hang out with.”

The announcement arrives just a month after it was revealed that Glover will reprise his role as Troy Barnes in the forthcoming Community movie.

The cult classic sitcom by Dan Harmon gave Childish Gambino his first major acting gig, and after reports emerged at the end of September that Peacock and Sony Pictures TV had greenlit a movie, all eyes were on the creative polymath to see if he’d reunite with his old castmates.

Joel McHale, who stars in the series as Jeff Winger, confirmed Glover’s return in an interview with Kelly Ripa’s Let’s Talk Off Camera podcast.

“Donald’s coming back and that’s really important,” he said. “The fact that Donald’s gonna do it, that was the big piece. But I think everyone’s coming back. I mean, so far we’re pretty good. And I think that will happen. If not then, you know, Donald will be there.”

McHale clarified he meant everyone except for Chevy Chase, who faced a slew of controversy over the show’s six seasons for alleged toxic behavior on set.

“Yeah, I don’t think so,” McHale said when asked if Chase was returning, adding sarcastically: “There weren’t any issues at all when we were making the show.”

On the music front, Childish Gambino returned with new music for the first time in three years in March. To coincide with the release of his Amazon Prime Video series Swarm, Donald Glover dropped a Swarm EP with five tracks from himself and singer KIRBY, who voices a fictional artist named Ni’jah.

Gambino is credited as a featured artist and co-producer on “Sticky” — which was first previewed in teaser trailers for the series — along with the producer of the opening track “Something Like That.” Childish Gambino’s last album 3.15.20 was released on RCA Records in March 2020.