Lando Calrissian

Landonis Balthazar "Lando" Calrissian III is a fictional character in the Star Wars franchise. He was introduced in The Empire Strikes Back (1980) as an old friend of Han Solo and the administrator of the floating Cloud City on the gas planet Bespin. Prior to the events of the film, Lando made a career as a gambler, con artist, playboy, mining engineer, and businessman, and was the owner of the Millennium Falcon until losing the ship to Han in a bet. In the film, when Cloud City is threatened by the Galactic Empire, Lando reluctantly betrays Han to Darth Vader, but later redeems himself by helping Han's friends escape from the Empire. In Return of the Jedi (1983), after becoming a general in the Rebel Alliance, Lando helps rescue Han from Jabba the Hutt and leads the attack on the second Death Star.

Lando is portrayed by Billy Dee Williams in the original trilogy, as well as the sequel film The Rise of Skywalker (2019), marking one of the longest intervals between portrayals of a character by the same actor in American film history. Donald Glover portrayed a younger version of the character in the standalone film Solo: A Star Wars Story (2018), which depicts the beginnings of his friendship with Han. Lando also appears frequently in the Star Wars Expanded Universe of novels, comic books and video games, including a series of novels focused on him.

The character has become one of the franchise's most popular, with Billy Dee Williams' performance receiving praise. Donald Glover's performance in Solo was also well received, being hailed as one of the film's highlights; a further film starring Glover as the character, tentatively entitled Lando, is in development as of December 2023. Williams was nominated for the Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actor twice for his performances in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi.