Leia’s role in Episode IX plus more Rogue One deleted scenes revealed

While we're all still grieving over Carrie Fisher's passing, it's time for Lucasfilm to decide what to do with her character come EPISODE XX. Kathleen Kennedy has already stated that Lucasfilm creative will be getting together this month to discuss the future of Star Wars, and unfortunately that now includes what to do with the character of Leia. The Hollywood Reporter claims to have an inside source stating that her character would play an even LARGER role in EPISODE IX, so that leaves Lucasfilm with few options. Of course, I don't see a recast happening so soon, so that means writing the character out and giving her plot points/dialogue to someone else, or going the ROGUE ONE route and trying to work in some digital trickery. I hope for everyone's sake it's the former.

Meanwhile, we have a few new images that dropped for ROGUE ONE. Usually we wouldn't report on new images for a film that's been out in theaters for a month, but the following show off even MORE deleted scenes from the film! Take a look at the action below and we'll discuss after!

The first picture is the most telling, with Orson Krennic brandishing a pistol and actually appearing to do something interesting. Who he's pointing it at is unknown, but I'd like to think that a subordinate was acting out of line. The next one down is a solitary moment with Jyn at the Rebel Base. If I had to fathom a guess, this would be after her meeting with the other rebels, as she's taking some time to reflect on kyber crystal and what her mother said. That is, before Cassian decides to get all "buddy buddy." The last pair of images reveal Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor on the beaches of Scarif, sharing a moment after a battle. Those who have seen the film know that the two don't get into any skirmishes on the beach. Below that is Gareth Edwards directing, and you can see that K2 was also involved in a beach skirmish at some point. It's surprising to see even MORE images released from deleted scenes, so perhaps that bodes well for what we might see on the eventual Blu-ray release!

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX is scheduled to hit theaters on May 24, 2019.