I understand that this may be hard to talk about and if it is too soon, please feel free to skip today’s posting. I won’t blame you.

However, with the initial shock of Carrie’s departure slowly sinking in, Star Wars fans have been wondering in the backs of their minds… Where the heck do we go from here??? How does this change the story that we were supposed to see on the big screen??? (And most importantly) How do we handle such a major character’s death.

Honestly, I wish I had answers for this question. To be painfully blunt, I’d say that it would be infinitely more damaging to the series if we lost her around the time Return of the Jedi started filming. At this point, though still significant, she was hardly center stage in The Force Awakens. So it is possible however difficult to carry on without her.

Lucasfilms and Disney do have a few options ahead of them, but none pose a solid solution that fans will really accept…

Let’s explore them…

1. Ignore the character completely. The Episode 8 could technically focus more majorly on Rey’s training. In other words, ignore the social political issues going on in the Galaxy between the shattered Republic and the First Order and focus more on the Jedi mythos and rebuilding the order. Then they could mention Leia’s death in passing as time went on.
   How could they do this? Perhaps have Luke and Rey travel elsewhere, say beyond the outer rim, or to planets where other Jedi have gone into hiding? (Evidence that other Rogue elements of the Jedi order may still alive both from the Old Republic and Luke’s tutelage.
   I don’t like this idea at all. This will leave a lot more questions than answers and honestly, a balance between the war and the Jedi mythos is what made the other movies great. Part of the problem with the prequels… aside from the CGI and Jar Jar problems is that this balance didn’t exist. The Jedi were just there, dealing with the social political issues that arose. There was very little in the way of delving into the Jedi mythos and a substantial amount of story was lost.
2. Death between films.  This is probably the most likely solution that they’ll use. They’ve done it before with other characters when actors have died and/or refused to take part in sequels. I hate this because I’ve always found it to be weak story-telling, but if you really have no other choice, then it’s what you do. That said, I’m not sure the current script can survive losing Leia. If the significant speculation around the script is true, the damaged Republic and thus Leia’s role in it, were going to be fleshed out a lot more, including her locking horns with the current chancellor.
   This may be a chance for them to perhaps introduce another Alliance sympathizer to the mix? Perhaps an elderly Mon Mothma could take Leia’s place as fans seem to want her fleshed out more? Or perhaps Leia and Luke’s cousins on the Naberrie side could come in? (Ryoo or Pooja?) I suppose the sky is the limit here…
3. CGI replacement. Ugh… well… I suppose you could do this, but Star Wars has been trying to shy away from CGI in favor of practical effects, this being reinforced with some of the backlash the CGI Tarkin got. It seems unlikely and really unrealistic. Plus Carrie has a very unique voice .Good luck finding a replacement.
4. Fill the gap with stock footage from TFA. You’d need a lot of stock footage and you’d also need to make sure that it was spliced in a way as to not make it too recognizable. This seems the most unlikely solution.
5. Replace her with another actress. This might be possible if we lost her around the time of Return of the Jedi. Sadly we’re not talking about a little-known actor from three movies that came out less than 5 years ago in a series whose face was greatly obscured by long hair and a beard. We’re talking about a 3+ decade institution. NO ONE is going to accept someone else playing Princess Leia/General Organa. Like it or not, Carrie Fisher is Leia and Leia is Carrie Fisher. That character in her present day form can likely never be portrayed again in anything other than animated form. Like it or not, Leia is done.

No matter which way they choose to go, one thing can be absolutely certain, for Star Wars fans, Carrie’s death means that we’ll be getting a much different movie than what we would have gotten and we will be forever wondering what would have been.

Thankfully, Disney and LucasFilm has some of the best writers out there… They can’t replace an endearing presence such as hers, but they may be able to find a way to work around her in a way that doesn’t stretch our suspension of disbelief too much.

In summation, this sucks on so many levels!

Readers,

Do you have a question about writing, publishing, my stories, etc? Please feel free to post a comment or email me.
jimthewritingwizard@gmail.com
I’ll use those comments to select my next blog post.

I have been writing for several years, have 4 published works, experience with publishing and independent work, so I can hopefully be of assistance.
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Thanks friends!
Catch you on the flip side!

-Jim