After Carrie Fisher's brother lent hope to the idea his sister would appear in Star Wars: Episode IX posthumously, fans got excited they'd be able to go on one last journey with Leia. But a prominent figure from Lucasfilm pushed back against the idea during the "Star Wars Celebration" event in Orlando, and says Fisher will not be appearing in Episode IX.
Kathy Kennedy, the president of Lucasfilm, sat down for a brief interview with ABC at the semi-annual Star Wars festival. Pressed on Todd Fisher's comments regarding Leia's potential appearance in Episode IX, Kennedy made clear there was no chance it would be happening:
He was probably confused. We finished everything in VIII, and Carrie is absolutely phenomenal in the movie, and we're so happy that we were able to complete shooting in the summer. Unfortunately Carrie passed away, and by the time we were well under way with Episode IX in our thoughts, we had not written the script yet. But we regrouped, we started over again in January, so sadly Carrie will not be in IX.
It's a major bummer Leia will not return for the dramatic conclusion to the newest Star Wars trilogy, and it's made even worse by the false hope created by recent comments. Fans would have understood the difficulty of including Fisher in a movie that hadn't yet been filmed, but now that's being mixed with dashed hopes.
The only good news here is Kennedy's assertion Fisher was excellent in The Last Jedi, which is set to release Dec. 15. This isn't a major surprise—of course Leia continued to be a badass—but it should prompt fans of the series to savor every last moment you have with Leia in the upcoming film. One of the most iconic leading ladies of all-time is going to have her swan song, so hopefully she gets the send-off she deserves.
