9 actors we want to see in the next Star Wars trilogy

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA – JUNE 09: Michael K. Williams attends Netflix’s FYSEE event for “When They See Us” at Netflix FYSEE at Raleigh Studios on June 09, 2019 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by David Livingston/Getty Images)

1. Michael K Williams

On March 6, 2017, Michael K Williams was announced as part of the cast for Solo: A Star Wars Story, and was rumored to play a villain opposite of Emilia Clarke and Alden Ehrenreich. Best known for his work on HBO’s The Wire and Boardwalk Empire, the addition of Williams came with plenty of excitement, and I was looking forward to what he’d bring to the Star Wars universe.

Nearly three months later, Williams’s involvement with the film came to an end due to the firing of Phil Lord and Chris Miller from the project over creative differences with Lucasfilm.

With Ron Howard stepping in to right the ship and stay on track for a May 2018 release, Williams couldn’t fit Solo reshoots into his schedule and stepped away from the role of Dryden Vos, now played by Paul Bettany. During an appearance on Sirius XM’s Jim and Sam show in March 2018, Williams gave us his perspective of what was happening behind-the-scenes during that tumultuous time, citing:

"“That was one for the textbooks. That was just so out of left field. There’s just some things… you gotta say, ‘you know what, this is out of my hands.” That is like a freak accident. I just accepted that I was exactly where I was supposed to be.”"

However, I’d like to think that it’s not the last time Williams could be involved with the franchise, and I am sure Lucasfilm may be eager to get him back if they hired him in the first place. Although originally cast as a villain, I would rather see Williams in a protagonist capacity during the Old Republic era.