Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker Confirms Leia Is Training Rey to Be a Jedi

It was previously confirmed by director J.J. Abrams that the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will see Carrie Fisher return as General Leia Organa. Despite passing away two years before production began, Fisher will return to the role that made her famous, with her appearance being constructed from about 8 minutes of deleted footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Pieces and snippets from her scenes in the film have already appeared in the trailers and TV spots for the movie, with many guessing that her role will see her training Rey in the ways of the Force after Luke’s death. Now, we know that’s exactly what will happen in the film.

Leia’s costume from the upcoming sequel was on display today during the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker press junket, with a display next to it featuring a brief explainer about her role in the film. The card reads (via Screen Rant): “General Leia Organa continues to lead the heroic Resistance, building back a fighting force after having suffered costly setbacks. Leia is also training Rey in the ways of the Force, for the galaxy still has need of a Jedi.” Check out a photo of it below.

“We knew there was no way we could finish this Skywalker saga without Leia, it was impossible,” Abrams previously said. “We knew we would never want to do a digital Leia, and of course couldn’t recast it, and then I remembered we had these scenes that we’d shot for Force Awakens that we’d never used. Which at the time I was really upset that we weren’t using them because it was Carrie and it was Leia and how do you not use them, but it just didn’t work in the movie.”

He added, “And weirdly those scenes were material that we 100% realized could be used to tell her story in this film, so every time you’re seeing Leia in scenes with [other] characters, it’s Carrie in this movie. I still can’t quite believe that she’s gone because we’ve been working on these scenes in editorial and she’s as there as anyone. It’s really uncanny.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is set to star returning cast members Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. New cast members include Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, with returning veteran actors including Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Billy Dee Williams, and Ian McDiarmid as the Emperor.

Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once again to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the seminal Skywalker saga, where new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released in theatres on December 20th.

(H/T Screen Rant)