Has Star Wars lost its sense of fun? Donald Glover, who played Han Solo's rogue friend Lando Calrissian in 2018's Solo: A Star Wars Story, seems to think so, and he wants to bring that sense of fun back to his upcoming Lando movie. "Sometimes it’s way too serious," Glover told The Wall Street Journal of the Star Wars franchise. "Everything that has to do with the Skywalkers is like so serious. Lando, I think the best part about him is he’s a scoundrel. And I feel like people can relate to that, and he’s probably like ‘man, this war is whack. I need money,’ which I feel everyone can relate to. I want to bring fun to ‘Star Wars.’ I just want it to be fun.”
Has Star Wars become too serious? The original trilogy is a fun adventure featuring talking robots, laser swords and warrior teddy bears from the moon of Endor, but there's weight and heft in there too, what with people getting their hands chopped off and dealing with their daddy issues. The prequel trilogy was more serious — that ended with the main character bursting into flame on the side of a volcano — and since then the franchise has burned hot and cold. A show like Andor may be the most serious thing to ever come out of the Star Wars universe, while the upcoming Skeleton Crew looks like an all-ages romp.
“I just want it to be fun,” Glover reiterated.. “As a ‘Star Wars’ fan myself, I think it’s important that there needs to be fun being had.”
"It’s very hard to have fun right now. It’s tough because there are very serious things happening and those are the only things that connect us, weirdly. So I get why things are serious, but part of the human experience, I believe, is we have a responsibility to have enjoyment. And I just feel like we’re lacking in that department."
I doubt anyone is going to object to having fun; the Star Wars franchise has proven itself flexible enough to include a variety of tones. The challenge now may be follow-through. Glover could have the most fun movie in the world planned, but there have been a lot of Star Wars movie projects that have died on the vine over the years, from Rian Johnson's planned trilogy to another trilogy from Game of Thrones showrunners David Benioff and Dan Weiss to a Rogue Squadron movie from Kathleen Kennedy to a Star Wars movie by Taika Waititi. All were announced only to be later shelved, at least for now. At this point, I'll only believe we're getting a new Star Wars movie when I'm watching one in the theater.
The Lando movie sounds like it's still on track, although it's gone through its share of changes; originally it was going to be a TV series. Obviously there's no release date yet set, but Glover's positive attitude can only bode well.
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