The Last Jedi: Poe Dameron Tipped To Succeed Leia As Leader Of The Resistance

Between the release of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and the one-year anniversary of Carrie Fisher’s untimely death, December is shaping up to be a very, very emotional month for the Star Wars community and the film industry at large.

Fisher, who had been a fixture of the Lucasfilm franchise from the very beginning, will be written out of the series with grace (i.e. not killed), after it was confirmed that Episode IX won’t resurrect the great Leia Organa through CGI.

However that may be, there are those who believe that Carrie Fisher has left a hole that simply cannot be filled, but in the absence of her on-screen hero, General Leia Organa, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson believes it’s time for Poe Dameron to step up to the plate. He’s still a little rough around the edges, as Johnson recently conceded to USA Today, but who better to lead the Resistance fleet than Leia’s surrogate son?

After all, Leia Organa lost Ben Solo (AKA Kylo Ren) to the alluring Snoke, so it’s rather fitting that Star Wars: The Last Jedi still finds room for a mother-son bond. As for the chances of Poe Dameron succeeding Leia as leader of the Resistance, Rian Johnson admitted that Oscar Isaac’s X-Wing still has some room for growth before he’s ready to step up “to the next level.”

Yeah, I think so. He’s also got some growing to do. Poe’s got to grow. She definitely saw that potential in him and in The Last Jedi, we dig into that more. We’ve seen how heroic he is and now we’re going to see him challenged in terms of stepping up to the next level. It takes more than heroics to be a leader, or so I’m told.

Dubbed a fitting send-off for Leia Organa, Star Wars: The Last Jedi will zoom into theaters on December 15th. And when it does, Rey, Finn and Poe Dameron will seemingly be put through the wringer.