Jean, 39, lover of sci-fi, horror and fantasy, reader of comic books, conqueror of genre fiction.
It’s understandable to a degree that Lando wouldn’t get quite the same attention as the big three. He wasn’t in the original movie. Introduced halfway or more through the second movie, he functioned as a supporting character, a friend of Han’s who betrayed him before allying with the heroes. But the end of The Empire Strikes Back, in which Lando took over Han’s seat in the Millennium Falcon alongside Chewbacca in order to lead the search for him (rather than, say, quietly disappearing after fulfilling his function of freeing our heroes), clearly set Lando up as a new addition to the team of protagonists. Return of the Jedi confirmed that, having been introduced, Lando had moved up to the core cast when it allowed Lando, effectively solo, to anchor the entire spaceborne Battle of Endor, and even to fire the shots that destroyed the Second Death Star. Lando may not have had quite the stature of Luke Skywalker, but surely it was clear that he was a key part of the ensemble now. Even moreso than the sidekickish Chewbacca, Lando was an active, independent protagonist able to hold down his own third of the movie in same manner as Luke and Han and Leia.
Unfortunately, the EU didn’t quite take that hint. Some works, of course, were relatively good at finding roles for Lando.
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