What the Billy Dee Williams news means for 'Star Wars'

Probably nobody on the planet, besides maybe Billy Dee Williams himself, was more excited by the news that broke last night that the veteran actor and fan favorite would finally be reprising his most iconic role of Lando Calrissian in the next installment of the new Star Wars saga, the still untitled Episode IX.

Williams' performances as Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi have always been an inspiration for me, and as a young African-American kid growing up, he was a big part of what drew me to the franchise and made me such a diehard fan.

I've been long advocating for him to get the chance to bring his version of Calrissian back to life, something that I worried would never happen after he was snubbed by The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. But now, it's official and with everything related to Star Wars these days, I expect the reaction to be complicated.

There's the fact that at 81, Williams is considerably less mobile than he once was. Although his reps say he's going to be training for the film, presumably to lose some weight, I don't expect him to be heavily involved in any big action scenes.

That being said, I think most fans are hoping that this will be more than a glorified cameo, and considering the fact that Williams has been reportedly clearing his schedule, that suggests it will be.

Now, I expect two strains of thought from skeptics. I imagine there will be those who see his return as pure fan service (along with the return of Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams) to help win back people who rejected the divisive Last Jedi.

Second, and I'm already seeing this cynicism online, there is already speculation that his character will likely be killed off unceremoniously, because -- SPOILER ALERT -- this series has systematically dispatched Han and then Luke, and with the real-life passing of Carrie Fisher, effectively Leia too.

This new trilogy has been centrally concerned with reckoning with the past and The Last Jedi really made a point to hammering home the conceit that the past has to "die," but I hope that whatever Calrissian's fate, it won't be simply to reassert some pre-established theme.

I actually think Rian Johnson's decision not to include him in The Last Jedi was a mistake. As much as I enjoyed Benicio Del Toro's performance as the unpredictable DJ, I felt like swapping in Lando for that character would have been a lot more compelling and interesting, something Johnson briefly considered, but eventually abandoned.

By bringing him in now there's a danger of his presence feeling forced, and with all the original heroes gone except for reliable old Chewbacca (and R2D2 and C-3PO), it's hard to know where Lando can and will fit in this narrative.

Clearly, Donald Glover's likable performance as the younger Lando in Solo resurrected interest in the character, and proved there was more room to develop him. And although the young heroes of the new trilogy -- Rey, Finn and Poe -- grew a lot in The Last Jedi, they are still in need of mentors, and certainly an aging Lando could fill that gap.

No matter what, I just hope they give him something fun and interesting to do, although it seems to me that the central narrative of this new film --  which is supposed to be the final entry in this particular saga -- would focus on reconciling the tension (both sexual and otherwise) between Rey and Kylo Ren.

I will say probably the most exciting thing about this forthcoming adventure (which I believe is due out in 2019), is how much of a blank slate it is. For better or worse, The Last Jedi didn't set up an obvious trajectory for the next film to go on and so Abrams and company will have a very challenging or liberating hand to play with, from a certain point of view.