Star Wars fans were devastated when Carrie Fisher tragically passed away in December 2016 at the age of 60, just months after Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi had finished shooting. Although all of her scenes had been completed, when the movie hit theaters the following year there was still a huge sense of sadness surrounding the fact that the actress was no longer with us.
J.J. Abrams used footage that didn’t make it into The Force Awakens to reverse-engineer Leia’s appearance in The Rise of Skywalker, with the General’s arc being brought to a fitting and hugely emotional close, and the impact only hit harder by seeing Fisher’s daughter Billie Lourd sharing the screen with her as the Resistance’s Lieutenant Connix.
With the Skywalker Saga having finally drawn to a close after over 40 years, and The Mandalorian seemingly acting as the launchpad for new stories set in the Star Wars universe, there are infinite possibilities for where the long-running sci-fi saga could go from here as it enters a brave new era. However, we reported several months ago that Lucasfilm were considering using Leia again for one of their future projects and while they’re still hoping to do so, it seems they may now have to think twice about it as Fisher’s family doesn’t want it to happen.
According to our sources – the same ones who told us Rey would be revealed as Palpatine’s [SPOILERS] and Ahsoka is coming to The Mandalorian, both of which were correct – Lucasfilm want to feature Leia again in the future but they’re reluctant to do so without the blessing of her family. And at this point, they seem unlikely to get it. Though that doesn’t mean they won’t still go ahead and bring the character back.
After all, Lucasfilm have the final say because they own the rights to the character’s likeness and can use it in any way they see fit. However, that creates an ethical problem that they’d probably rather avoid. We’ve already seen a digitally de-aged Leia in both Rogue One and The Rise of Skywalker, and the decision to use Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin in Gareth Edwards’ prequel came under heavy fire for employing CGI to give an actor who died in 1994 a supporting role in a movie released 22 years later.
Of course, there’s absolutely no need to use Leia ever again, with Star Wars more than capable of heading in creative directions that don’t involve the Skywalkers at all, but Lucasfilm’s apparent insistence that everything be tied to the main saga in some form has become one of the most heavily-criticized aspects of the franchise in recent years. And unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if it’s something they intend to fix.
