Star Wars came to a partial end for the third time last year, as The Rise of Skywalker concluded Rey Skywalker’s (played by Daisy Ridley) journey to an end. The film was a relative success, garnering an enormous $1 billion at the box office. Unfortunately, the film’s production was surrounded in sadness, as the legendary Princess Leia actor Carrie Fisher died during the filming of The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker. Fisher died on December 27, 2016, after falling ill on a plane to Los Angeles.
The actor’s death changed how things were going to go in the Disney film, as she was a huge, integral part of the ongoing narrative.
While all of her scenes in The Last Jedi had already been filmed, all of the shots of Fisher in The Rise of Skywalker were unused clips from before the film began shooting.
This meant that the film was forced to work around the star’s death in the films.
In a recent interview, Star Wars actor Warwick Davis explained how the production of the film continued on without Fisher with them.
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The Star Wars Archives, published by Taschen, explained that Darth Maul (Ray Park) was originally planned to be the true antagonist of the second trilogy of Star Wars films.
On top of this exciting thought, the book also revealed that Lucas originally had Leia penned as the new hero of the franchise going forward.
The author explained: “George Lucas’ plan for the sequel trilogy included: Darth Maul and Darth Talon as the villains; Luke rebuilding the Jedi Order from survivors of Order 66; Leia forming the New Republic, becoming the Chosen One.”
The author added that Lucas told him “these were some of his ideas when prepping the films in 2012, before he sold to Disney”.
Leia’s continuing story would have linked up with the Star Wars books that were being written at the time, which focussed on her involvement in the New Republic, following the events of The Return of the Jedi.
Unfortunately for Leia fans, she was pushed to the sidelines, and Rey was introduced.
No news on the next Star Wars films have been revealed just yet.
The Star Wars films are available to watch on Disney Plus now.
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