Star Wars Concept Art Shows Leia As A Jedi Before The Rise of Skywalker

Some new Star Wars concept art has resurfaced online, depicting Princess Leia Organa as a full-fledged Jedi. The artwork was from now-canceled Star Wars: Battlefront 4; that game has become infamous for its proposed alternate-universe take on the Star Wars Skywalker Saga, which would’ve seen Obi-Wan Kenobi and Luke Skywalker falling to the dark side, instead of Anakin Skywalker, resulting in vastly different fates for the Saga’s major characters, like Mace Windu, Anakin/Darth Vader, and of course, Leia. The artwork was a point of Star Wars fan fascination back in 2018, and thanks to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, fans the Jedi Leia artwork has new appeal!

You can check out the full Star Wars: Battlefront 4 concept art gallery HERE.

In Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker we got the official canon story of how Leia trained with her brother Luke Skywalker in the Jedi arts, even learning to wield her very own lightsaber. It was a major fan service moment when Leia’s Jedi training sequence played out in The Rise of Skywalker, and this concept art is now just be more bittersweet insight into what could’ve been, had the Star Wars movies had explored some different paths for its characters.

After Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Star Wars fandom has been split over how the Sequel Trilogy handled the story of Luke and Leia’s later years. The story of how Luke Skywalker became corrupted by fear and pushed Ben Solo to become Kylo Ren, will forever be a controversial decision; however, Leia’s story has been a much more muted (but no less important) controversy. A lot of fans wanted to see more of Leia stepping up and accomplishing more with a lightsaber than the Jedi Knights before her. Instead, we only got to see Leia’s Force powers work in moments of intuition (like sensing her son), as well as that now-infamous “Mary Poppins in Space” scene where Leia used the Force to survive being blasted into outer space. While the late Carrie Fisher never lost a step bringing equal measures royal gravitas and razor-sharp wit to her role as Leia, that sight of her sparking a lightsaber is a missed iconic opportunity that will forever sting.

Even though Fisher is now gone, Princess Leia’s legacy lives on. Star Wars novels and comics have greatly expanded her storyline, and after seeing the possibilities for recreating the character onscreen (see: Rogue One and TROS), fans wouldn’t be opposed to seeing the character pop-up again (with lightsaber in hand), in future Star Wars film and TV projects.

Star Wars continues when The Mandalorian season 2 premieres this fall, and The High Republic line launches in January 2020.