Star Wars 9: Is Billy Dee Williams returning to Star Wars as Lando Calrissia in Episode 9?

Billy Dee Williams joined the Star Wars universe in the second instalment of the original trilogy The Empire Strikes Back as Lando Calrissian.

Lando Calrissian is a smooth-talking former smuggler turned Cloud City mining baron with a penchant for fashionable capes.

Fans have been treated to a young version of Lando, played by Donald Glover in the recently released Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Is Billy Dee Williams returning to Star Wars?

Research and rumour have both compounded to give us the answer: maybe.

Fans are cautiously optimistic about Williams’ return to the saga in Episode 9.

The still unnamed ninth instalment of the recent Star Wars sequels features Rey as the hero, alongside ex-stormtrooper Finn and resident flyboy Poe Dameron.

The newest movies also had fan favourites returning to the set – Harrison Ford, Mark Hammil, and Carrie Fisher all reprised their roles.

But after Fisher’s too-soon passing, Episode 9 is lacking in original trilogy guidance.

Unlike his former co-stars, Billy Dee Williams hadn’t left the role of Lando behind.

He voiced Calrissian in, as ScreenRant put it: “everything from the controversial Star Wars: Battlefront II to random episodes of Robot Chicken.”

New information tweeted by MegaCon stated Williams is exercising 3 times a week with a trainer and has a new diet have elicited excited gasps from fans.

These were the same steps Hammil and others had to undergo as they took up their lightsabers once more.

Billy Dee Williams told Hollywood reporter that he wouldn’t mind reprising the role on the big screens, during a time when rumours about his appearance in The Last Jedi were circulating.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY: WHY DOES BOBA FETT GET HIS OWN MOVIE?

The main question is still this: Will Lando Calrissian appear in Episode 9?

Star Wars fans know how fragile negotiations can be when it comes to Lucasfilm and Disney’s enterprises.

Solo: A Star Wars Story suffered major setbacks when their initial directing duo was fired and replaced by Ron Howard, leading to reshoots and cast changes.

But fans seem to be hopeful that Billy Dee Williams will don a cape once more.

Who knows, maybe he’ll wind up back in the Millennium Falcon cockpit once again.