When Carrie Fisher passed away in December 2016, fans were understandably heartbroken
and we all mourned the loss of our favourite Star Wars princess and general.
Carrie had completed filming her scenes for The Last Jedi and now we've had a chance to
see Leia back on screen in an extremely poignant performance.
Yippee-ki-yay movie lovers, it's Jan here, and today I want to take a look at Carrie
Fisher's role in The Last Jedi and how Lucasfilm could conclude Leia's story in Episode 9.
I'll be discussing mild spoilers from Leia's scenes in the movie, but I'll avoid any major
plot reveals.
I'm also running my Star Wars giveaway on this video.
To enter, make sure you're subscribed to my channel and leave me a comment below with
your thoughts about Carrie Fisher or Leia.
And I'll announce the winner of one of my recent giveaways later in the video.
Before I get to Leia returning for Episode 9, I want to quickly review Carrie Fisher's
role in The Last Jedi.
If you've seen the movie, you'll know Leia has several scenes that really hit you emotionally,
plus there are a couple of poignant moments with Luke and Rey.
And although these scenes play out nicely, her final moment is particularly sad when
you consider that Leia was originally going to be at centre of the story for Episode 9,
in a similar way to how Han Solo was for Episode 7 and Luke was for Episode 8.
After Carrie died, Lucasfilm has had to go back and rewrite the story for the final chapter
in the new trilogy.
Still, I'm glad that Carrie and Leia had a significantly bigger role in The Last Jedi
over her relatively brief appearance in The Force Awakens.
But Leia's story in the new trilogy still feels unfinished, so how will Lucasfilm complete
her arc?
One possible option is using the hour or so of deleted and unused footage that Rian Johnson
shot for The Last Jedi.
According to Carrie Fisher's brother Todd, he and her daughter Billie Lourd have granted
LucasFilm permission to use recent footage of Carrie in Episode 9.
And perhaps for dialogue, they could reach into the Lucasfilm archives as they did for
Rogue One or use actors who've voiced Leia in other Star Wars properties.
Leia's dialogue was already a technical challenge for Episode 8 as Carrie died before she was
able to perform Additional Voice Recording, or ADR, which is normal for any film and involves
actors re-voicing lines, for example, if the on-set audio isn't good enough.
Rian Johnson has said that post-production for Leia's scenes was tough and they had to
do a lot of sound work to resolve issues.
I didn't notice anything especially strange with Leia's dialogue in the movie, so maybe
it could be possible, though labour intensive, with smart sound work and various audio-tricks
to create some realistic-sounding dialogue for Leia in Episode 9.
Now as much as some fans might like to see Leia in the next film, in April 2017, Kathleen
Kennedy said Carrie won't appear in the final instalment, though Todd Fisher has said that
he hopes she reconsiders this, and, let's face it, Lucasfilm have changed their plans
during production before, just think of Rogue One, the Han Solo film, and even Episode 9
itself.
Also, recently, Mark Hamill has been telling fans we can expect a fitting and respectful
end to Leia's story in the next film.
So, Lucasfilm might be tempted to include a small appearance, depending on fan reaction
after episode 8.
Another option, which I think many fans wouldn't like, is a CGI Leia, as happened with Grand
Moff Tarkin and young Leia in Rogue One.
Those CGI characters had a mixed reception and Lucasfilm were quick to shut down speculation
after Carrie's death about a CGI Leia appearing in Episode 9.
Nevertheless, a recast hasn't been ruled out, however, I think this is most unlikely given
Carrie Fisher's popularity, unless it's limited to, say, just a few shots of a stand-in from
behind.
So far, I've talked about ways Leia could appear in the final movie, however, another
realistic option is that her story gets closure in another way.
This would probably mean that when Episode 9 begins, we learn that Leia has perhaps passed
away or retired off screen and so she's no longer around with the Resistance.
It could be referenced via the opening crawl, for example Leia is reported as having been
assassinated by the First Order and perhaps they could even show General Organa's funeral.
It would certainly be one way to kick off the movie and pay tribute to Carrie Fisher
at the same time.
This would likely mean we're looking at a time jump of at least several months, if not
a few years, between the end of episode 8 and the start of 9.
This could also serve other storylines for the final chapter of the new trilogy and I
think with some imaginative storytelling, it would still be possible for Leia to be
at the heart of the final episode.
For example, the Resistance defeating the First Order could be linked back to Leia's
legacy, with protagonists like Rey or Finn referring back to her at key moments in the
story.
I also noticed that Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd was given a bigger part as Lieutenant
Connix in The Last Jedi and I think her character could be part of an important tribute scene
in the next movie.
By the way, if you're interested in my in-depth breakdown of The Last Jedi's ending and what
it means for Episode 9, then you can tap in the top right or click the link in the video
description.
OK, so spoiler here for Poe Dameron's arc in The Last Jedi – skip ahead to the time
on screen to avoid it if you prefer.
You probably already noticed that in episode 8, Leia is clearly setting up Poe Dameron
as a potential new leader of the Resistance.
This signals that The Last Jedi was already planning for Leia to retire.
Now, it's possible this wasn't going to happen until late in Episode 9, but I suspect that
Poe's promotion to a leadership role to take over from Leia could be accelerated now.
So, would you like to see Leia return and if so how do you think Lucasfilm should do
it?
And if you've seen The Last Jedi, what did you think of Carrie Fisher's scenes and what's
the best way to give Leia closure in Episode 9?
I'd love to hear your thoughts in the comments below and don't forget to also subscribe to
enter my Star Wars giveaway.
The winner of my recent Trolls giveaway is on the screen right now, so if that's you
send me a private message with your details so I can get your prize out to you.
Coming up I've got more The Last Jedi videos, so be sure to turn on notifications to get
them as soon as they're live; and in the meantime, you can check out some more videos you're
sure to like right here.
Thanks for watching and see you next time.
Yippee-ki-yay, movie lovers!