Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director On Whether Leia’s Final Appearance Will Satisfy Fans

Star Wars have been learning new details about the upcoming new installment, The Last Jedi, thanks to a new in-depth report.

In the latest segment of that report (via EW) we learn more about how the late Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia will factor into the story, and where we find her after the emotional blows of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens finale.

However, in addition to how Leia will fit into the story of The Last Jedi, there’s also another issue looming over the film: how fans will feel about Episode VIII being the final appearance Fisher’s Leia in the franchise. Director Rian Johnson recently opened up about how he’s approaching that issue – and what he thinks the fan reaction will be.

Leia’s Swan Song

As Johnson points out, when production on The Last Jedi began, no one involved with the film was planning on Episode VIII being Leia’s final film. As the director himself put it:

“There’s no way that we could’ve known this would’ve been the last Star Wars movie she would be in, so it’s not like we made the film thinking that we were bringing closure to the character.”

Some fans may hear that explanation and get concerned that The Last Jedi will will lead Leia’s story to an awkwardly abrupt ending; however, Johnson promises that will not be the case: 

“…watching the film, there’s going to be a very emotional reaction to what she does in this movie.”

From that explanation, it’s not hard to imagine that The Last Jedi will see Leia make some kind of sacrifice for The Resistance. Having Leia sacrifice herself to save Rey, or Poe or The Resistance as a whole is something the filmmakers could piece together from footage of Fisher, along with visual effects sequences. It would also be in step with the character’s heroic nature – a final rousing moment that fans could cheer for.

That’s all speculation, of course. Leia could easily survive the events of The Last Jedi and simply retire into some corner of the galaxy, outside the fray. Then again, that doesn’t sound much like the warrior-princess fans know and love, so we wouldn’t bet on her going out in any other way than fireworks.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be in theaters on December 15, 2017. For more coverage of the film (and to rate your anticipation for it), be sure to visit our full database page, below.