‘Star Wars’ May Be Preparing To Eliminate Iconic Characters

There’s really nothing quite like Star Wars in respect to the franchise’s scope and fanbase with expansions from the films into television, comic books, novels, video games, and so on. While much of this may not be considered canon by hardcore fans, this still leaves plenty of myth and material upon which to drive the future of Star Wars. If current rumors prove true, that may just be what Disney is thinking, as the studio prepares to take the franchise far beyond the original trilogy. The success of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story has only served to support this idea, and following the passing of Carrie Fisher, there may be greater reason than ever to move away from the core characters.

Rogue One Writer Suggests A New Era For Star Wars

Gary Whitta, who was the mastermind behind the Rogue One: A Star Wars Story screenplay, recently shared his thoughts on the future of the franchise, and as Comicbook reports, the writer feels that an extended future lies in bringing new heroes and villains to light. He suggests that this has been largely successful already in Rogue One, even though familiar characters like Darth Vader and Princess Leia are present, because, primarily, that Star Wars offshoot film focused on entirely new characters.

“…90 percent of that story is completely new characters,” says Whitta. “Completely new planets and places you’ve never seen before. It’s a ‘Star Wars’ movie with no Jedi! You don’t see a lightsaber once until Vader pops it out at the end.”

Going a step further, Gary shares that talk is already being generated at Lucasfilm in regard to moving away from the traditional story arcs of Luke Skywalker, Princess Leia, and Han Solo. It’s something that’s already been done in both Rogue One and The Force Awakens, but Mr. Whitta believes new faces will drive the franchise even further in the future.

“One of the thing things we really want to do at Lucasfilm is create a universe and not keep relying on old legacy characters,” said the Rogue One writer. “We’ve got Rey and Finn and Kylo Ren, they’ve already introduced a new generation of characters. Whatever kind of Star Wars films they’re making 10 or 20 years from now, I don’t think they’re going to be relying on the same legacy story elements as we have in the past.”

Ingvild Deila On The Pressure Of Following In Carrie Fisher’s Shoes

The story of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story called for a young version of Princess Leia, and for that, the Star Wars bosses turned to Ingvild Deila to bring the princess back to life. Deila opens up to the Hollywood Reporter about that task, sharing that, while it was her briefest role in terms of screen time, the pressure was like nothing she had previously experienced.

In actuality, Ingvild didn’t appear on film in the traditional sense. Instead, Carrie Fisher’s younger likeness was digitally recreated for just one scene. Even Deila’s one line was insignificant, requiring her to utter just one word, “hope,” for the Star Wars offshoot film.

“Because it was Leia, because it was the final shot of the film. It felt like a big responsibility,” recalls the Rogue One actress. “But I tried to push all of that aside and just imagine what it would be like if your spaceship is about to get boarded and you are in this really dire, high stakes situation but you have to keep your cool because you are in charge. I was just trying to picture myself herself in her shoes.”

By the time Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hit theaters, Carrie Fisher had already passed away, so Ingvild never had the chance to meet her Princess Leia predecessor. She never knew just how Fisher felt about her performance in the Princess Leia role, until much later. Deila recalls reading an article in which Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy shared that Carrie had liked the scene.

“So it wasn’t until later on I knew for sure she was okay with it,” said the Rogue One actress. “That was a huge relief for me.”

[Featured Image by Walt Disney Studios/Lucasfilm]