Abrams Says Rise of Skywalker Will 'Tell the Story of Leia' They Always Intended

The world was shocked and saddened in December of 2016 when we found out that actress and writer Carrie Fisher had passed away. Her sudden death left many fans curious how her absence would be addressed in the upcoming ninth episode of the Star Wars saga, now titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, after her character General Leia Organa escaped with the remnants of the Rebellion in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Director J.J. Abrams has confirmed new details about Fisher's role in the film previously, revealing it was constructed from about 8 minutes of deleted footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Now the filmmaker has offered a little more insight into the process and how it fits into their plans for the character.

Speaking with Total Film Magazine, Abrams revealed that with the footage they've compiled, and the way that the narrative unfolds in Rise of Skywalker, viewers shouldn't notice any difference in Fisher's appearance and interactions with other characters. Abrams also confirmed that with the way it's presented the filmmakers are telling Leia's story in Episode IX that they intended to tell all along.

"There are scenes where she's interacting with other characters in a way that is uncanny," Abrams said. "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."

This may not exactly line up with what was previously said about Leia's character though, with Fisher's brother Todd revealing in an interview that one of the original intentions with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was to see Leia fully embrace her Jedi abilities and to become the "Last Jedi." There's certainly possibility that this is still the case in the new film, but given her limited amount of screen time it could be a challenge. It's unclear if the original plan would have included seeing Leia wield a lightsaber, but Fisher's comments confirm remarks made by Mark Hamill as well, who previously claimed Leia was supposed to be the key figure in the upcoming film.

"I know they're going to try and find a way to close her story in [The Rise of Skywalker] that gives her the respect she deserves," the actor confirmed in 2017. "Because [Han Solo] was more prominent in [The Force Awakens], Luke's a little more prominent in [The Last Jedi], and certainly Leia was meant to be more prominent in [The Rise of Skywalker]."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lands in theaters on December 20th, where we'll learn if Leia will become the Last Jedi or not.