Gwendoline Christie Confirms Return For Next Star Wars Movie

Captain Phasma will return in Star Wars Episode VIII, confirmed Gwendoline Christie, the actress who plays the character, last night at the SAG Awards.

"I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that's an exclusive, actually," Christie told People, reiterating her excitement to be involved with the franchise and how hard she lobbied for the job.

Her character, who was aggressively merchandised and promoted, was seemingly sent to an offscreen death in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, although virtually no one believed we wouldn't see her again.

Technically, the "next" Star Wars movie is Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, but it's likely -- both for timeline reasons, and because Episode VIII is about to start filming -- that Christie is referring to the next "Episode."

Christie can currently be seen in theaters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Star Wars: Episode VIII, with its as-yet-unreleased final title, is being written and directed by Rian Johnson (Looper) and will continue the stories of Rey, Finn, and Poe, along with the villainous Kylo Ren and other returning characters from both the newest film and the legacy movies. The release date for the film was recently moved from May to December 15, 2017 after the record-breaking successful release of The Force Awakens.

Between the two episodic films, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story will release in December 2016, telling the tale of an elite Rebel squad stealing the Death Star plans before the events of Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope.