Billy Dee Williams was very eager to reprise his Lando Calrissian role in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, and although he did return as the character in a recent episode of Star Wars Rebels, he unfortunately won't be in the J.J. Abrams film. Many fans are disappointed Williams won't appear in STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, but what about Episodes VIII and IX? The actor said he knows there are a lot of people who are unhappy he won't be in the upcoming Star Wars flick while speaking with Cinelinx, however he also said he might star in the planned sequels.
Yeah, people were pretty upset about it. But I uh…I may very well…I have a feeling I’m going to show up. There’s nothing I can really discuss about it at this stage. People think of me as the original cast, but I didn’t come in until the second movie. I did Empire and then I did Return of the Jedi, but I came in after everyone else was introduced…So I think they’re probably proceeding in that way.
Billy Dee Williams may just have hunch, but it does kind of sound like the actor has had (at least) an unofficial conversation about appearing in a future Star Wars movie. Obviously he's not a lock for the sequels at this point, but there's an excellent chance we'll be seeing Lando Calrissian again on the big screen, which I think we can all agree is a good thing.
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS opens on December 18, 2015.