With the untimely death of Carrie Fisher in 2016, fans have been wondering how her character would be handled in the future of the Star Wars franchise. Fisher passed after she finished filming her scenes for Star Wars: The Last Jedi and her character General Leia Organa was expected to have a larger role in the upcoming untitled Star Wars: Episode IX, which is due out in 2019.

Earlier this year, Lucasfilm announced that it had no intention of creating a digital double of the late Carrie Fisher in any of its future Star Wars films, responding to internet speculation that the studio would attempt to create a performance using motion capture and computer graphics. This is the same technology ILM used to recreate a young Princess Leia for Fisher’s cameo at the end of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. 

“We want to assure our fans that Lucasfilm has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher’s performance as Princess or General Leia Organa. Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honor everything she gave to Star Wars.”

Choosing not to recreate Leia with digital effects, however, does create a problem concerning the story moving forward. As we know Leia is shown to survive the events of Star Wars: The Last Jedi and is still leading the Resistance. Her story in Star Wars: Episode IX is being reworked by J. J. Abrams, but many fans are still wondering how she will be handled. Killing Leia off during the opening crawl seems to be the most likely bet, but it would be a poor way to send off one of the central characters of the Star Wars franchise. With that being said, there are a couple choices that J. J. Abrams and Lucasfilm could make that would please most fans.

The safest choice would be for the studio to recast the role. If approved by Fisher’s family, recasting the role of Leia would be a great way to pay tribute to the late actress. Finding a good actress that remotely resembles Fisher would make completing her storyline easier for J. J. Abrams and the studio. Stevie Nicks would be a great choice as she and Fisher have been considered long lost twins for decades. Although no actress can replace Fisher, there are many including Nicks, who would love to carry on her legacy. If Abrams and Lucasfilm do decide to kill off Leia and not recast, then the next best thing would be to have her appear as a Force ghost using footage from the previous two films. Technically this would not be a digital recreation and the studio would have kept true their statement. With minimal to no lines, this could work perfectly.

Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled to be released on December 20, 2019.

Did you enjoy Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Do you think Leia should be killed off? Do you think Leia should be recast? Leave your comments below!