Gwendoline Christie hopes Captain Phasma will be explored more in Episode IX

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

SPOILERS for STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI below. The STAR WARS franchise has no shortage of characters who look very cool, and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) is certainly one of them, but unfortunately, she hasn't had an opportunity to do much of anything in the new trilogy. While speaking with The Times, Gwendoline Christie says that she isn't sure whether or not she'll be back for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX, but she certainly hopes so. More on that below, plus, you know, spoilers.

The last we saw of Captain Phasma in STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, she had been bested by Finn (John Boyega) in a brutal duel and had fallen into a fiery abyss as the deck crumbled beneath her. That was that, or was it? As I mentioned above, Christie doesn't know if J.J. Abrams will be giving her a call for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX just yet, but she hopes that if he does, her character will finally be explored more fully.

In truth, I don't know. And that scares and upsets me because I really want to see this character explored. I'm actually very invested in the character now. And that's genuine. That's not just chat. It has opened up a chain of stories and events in my mind about who Phasma is.

As Captain Phasma previously survived getting tossed in a trash compactor on Starkiller Base before the whole thing blew up, it wouldn't entirely be out of the realm of possibility for her character to return in EPISODE IX, but even if she does, I can't imagine that there would be enough time in the trilogy finale to reveal anything profound about the character, which was part of the problem Rian Johnson had with THE LAST JEDI. While speaking with IGN last year, Johnson confessed that there just wasn't enough room in the film for a big Phasma storyline.

I mean, as you can see, man, we had a really full movie already. We had a big, big movie with a lot of characters we were trying to serve, and the God’s honest truth is, every character had to find their natural place. And Phasma supports Finn’s storyline, obviously, and there just… until she shows up to fight him at the end, look through the story that we have, there’s just not a lot of space to go into a big Phasma storyline in it. So the truth is. It’s just a very big cast and you have to kind of pick your battles with it.

Should Captain Phasma return for STAR WARS: EPISODE IX? If so, what could be done to increase her involvement in the main story?