Hello, what have we here?
It turns out a Star Wars favourite might be less heterosexual than fans first thought.
Jonathan Kasdan, the co-writer of Solo: A Star Wars Story, sent the internet into a spin last week after he said he thought Lando Calrissian's sexuality was fluid.
"I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBTIQ character into this movie," he told The Huffington Post. "[But] I love the fluidity – sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are part of. He doesn't make any hard and fast rules."
The comments raised eyebrows because Calrissian (originally played by Billy Dee Williams) was introduced to fans in The Empire Strikes Back. In that film, he is a gambler turned gas-mining mogul who shows a romantic interest in Carrie Fisher's Princess Leia.
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"You look absolutely beautiful," he tells her. "You truly belong here with us among the clouds."
In the novels written after the release of The Last Jedi, Calrissian remains friendly with the Rebel Alliance and ultimately ends up marrying a woman. This storyline, however, was made redundant after Disney bought the rights to Star Wars and declaring everything that didn't happen in the films as no longer official canon.
Donald Glover as Lando Calrissian in a scene from Solo: A Star Wars Story.
Photo: Lucasfilm Ltd
"How can you not be pansexual in space?" he recently told EW Radio. "There's so many things to have sex with. I'm serious. Like, I didn't think it was that weird.
"He's coming onto everybody. He's kind of like a '70s swinger. I feel like if you're in space, the door's open."
Glover went on to point out that it would be impractical to date only men or women in a galaxy far, far away. This is because other life forms might have three genders, or five. Some might not have a gender at all.
"This thing is literally a blob," he joked. "Are you a man or a woman? Who cares! Have a good time."
Not everyone is happy that Donald Glover's character isn't explicitly queer on-screen. Some fans have accused Disney of trying to "earn LGBTIQ points without really doing anything".
Solo: A Star Wars Story will hit Australian cinemas on Thursday, May 24.
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Broede Carmody is an entertainment reporter at Fairfax Media.
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