Hello there, Star Wars fans! We’re back to disect some huge recent news. Let’s take a look at what we know, and what seems plausible about Leia in Episode IX.
A huge announcement this week for Star Wars fans is the cast announcement from the official site. The role of Leia will be based on previously unused footage–from The Force Awakens no less!
People have probably already forgotten about the rumors that she would be recast, and the online petition to cast Meryl Streep for the role. Ridiculously, other sites started running a rumor that the role was being recast based on this fan petition. You may have also forgot that Carrie Fisher’s brother said that she will be in the film, and this was quickly shot down by Kathy Kennedy. I guess he was right, and I gotta say that I’m so glad this is how they end up doing things. In the end, this is the best, safest choice. One thing is for sure, it would be disappointing if we had just found out she was already dead at the beginning of the film, even if this is what I had expected would happen until this week. Seeing Leia one last time on the big screen will be surreal.
The original plan for IX was that Leia would be the central (previous-generation) character for Episode IX. Han was central to TFA, and Luke was central to TLJ. That won’t happen to that extent, but at least it sounds like we’ll get a major scene with Leia. They may have enough other footage that they will be able to stitch together some other scenes to set things up.
Notably, the reason why Rian Johnson didn’t stitch together footage and have Leia die in TLJ was because he didn’t want something “manufactured”. As Rian put it,
I had this conversation with Kathy [Kennedy] after I came back, after New Years, after she’d passed away. And I looked through the scenes in the movie, and talked with Kathy. The thing is, it was briefly a question of ‘God, do we try and manufacture something to give her an ending in this movie?’ I decided, I came down strongly against that. Because I felt like, first of all, there was no way to do that without losing maybe her scene with Luke, or her scene with Rey at the end, or her scene with Holdo. … Any of the beautiful scenes in the movie, to lose — and also, then, it would be manufactured. It wouldn’t be great, I think.
This is a fair concern to have, but it also makes me wonder if Episode IX will be in danger of something like this. Whatever they do with that unused footage, it should be something that doesn’t feel cobbled together. To quote JJ Abrams on the matter:
Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.
So it sounds like whatever they came up with, JJ thinks that it honors Carrie’s legacy and just might be the satisfying conclusion they were looking for.
There is a really interesting piece on this from screenrant. They theorize that the footage used could be that of the “Sledgehammer”, which was a ship used by Leia to defeat the Starkiller base. What’s interesting about that is I would have suspected that such a scene would have taken place at the end of the TFA if it was in there. With IX, they may actually put this scene at the beginning. Why do I say that? I would think because the way they would handle it is to have her die at the beginning. The other possibility is have her role be minimal for the first half of the film, and have another super-weapon from The First Order (please not another even bigger Death Star). They could cut the footage to have Leia fighting this other weapon. If they save this scene for the end, I’m not sure if Leia would die on film or not. She could go out like Holdo or escape. Very exciting to see what they do with this unused footage and make the most of it in the new film.
Either way, a part of this that is really intriguing is a quote from the original leak. This whole story of the “Sledgehammer” goes back to a leak from Making Star Wars from three years ago! From this leak, we get some back and forth between the Resistance and the First Order, with two main weapons, the “Sledgehammer” on the Resistance side, and the Catipult (or the array) on the First Order side. We also get the following interesting quote:
General Organa’s war room is quiet. She stands proud, ready to die for what she believes in.
This point is after Hux charges another weapon to fire, which is now understood as what became Starkiller base or what could be an array of dreadnoughts. The point is that somewhere at Lucasfilm is footage of Leia being ready to die fighting the First Order. If they manage to tie it together with other compelling footage, and maybe if Poe learns from the loss of Leia, it could work.
The central challenge of all this is how you use old footage to the maximum to give here a large presence, but at the same time not cobble together too many unrelated shots. I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with, but the speculation of what’s to come is half the fun!
Brought to you by @davestrrr. Stay tuned for SpoiledBlueMilk for the best of Star Wars!