The Rise of Skywalker will tell the story of Leia J.J Abrams always intended

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

As we know, Carrie Fisher tragically passed away before the release of STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI, which made each and every scene of General Leia in the film all the more precious, but with one last film in the trilogy, fans were left wondering how the character of Leia would be handled. The idea of using CG or recasting the role for STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER wasn't something anyone wanted to do, but thanks to footage left over from the first two films, Carrie Fisher will still have a part to play in the final installment of the Skywalker saga. "We desperately loved Carrie Fisher," director J.J. Abrams said. "Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in [The Rise of Skywalker] by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII."

While I assumed that whatever story Lucasfilm had in mind for General Leia in THE RISE OF SKYWALKER would have changed quite a bit due to Carrie Fisher's death, J.J. Abrams told Total Film that Leia's arc in the film is just as it would have been had the actress lived.

There are scenes where she’s interacting with other characters in a way that is uncanny. Hopefully, if it works, it will be an invisible thing and if you didn’t know, you would never know. But we got to tell the story with Leia that we would have told had Carrie lived. And that’s kind of incredible.

Earlier this month, Carrie Fisher's brother, Todd Fisher, had a different story to tell when he claimed that the original intention for Leia's arc in STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER would have found her playing a major role in bringing down the First Order as well as wielding a lightsaber for the first time on screen.

She was going to be the big payoff in the final film. That was what the intent was prior to her exiting. She was going to be the last Jedi, so to speak. That’s cool right?… People used to say to me, ‘Why is it that Carrie never gets a lightsaber and chops up some bad guys. Even as a person of her age. I said, ‘Obi-Wan, when he was in his prime, was Carrie’s age.

It's important to note that the moment Todd Fisher describes originated during a very early period in the development of THE RISE OF SKYWALKER when Colin Trevorrow (JURASSIC WORLD) was still attached to direct, so it's hard to say whether or not it would have survived even if Carrie Fisher was still with us. STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is set to hit theaters on December 20, 2019.