Earlier today, Disney released the first trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi, provoking all sorts of arguments about whether it’s time for the Jedi Order to be put to rest. Beyond that, the footage in the teaser also showed what appeared to be a brief glimpse of Carrie Fisher’s General Leia, looking over some sort of galactic map. Now, Disney and Lucasfilm have confirmed that, while there will be plenty of Leia in The Last Jedi, we won’t be seeing her in the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX.
That’s in contrast to a statement that Fisher’s brother, Todd Fisher, gave last week, saying that he and his niece Billie Lourd had okayed the use of previously shot footage of the actress. Apparently, there was some sort of confusion or miscommunication, though, according to Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, who was speaking at Star Wars Celebration today. “Sadly, Carrie will not be in nine,” Kennedy said. “But we will see a lot of Carrie in eight.”
This year’s Celebration has featured a number of tributes and rememberances of Fisher, including fond reminiscing from her castmates Mark Hamill and Harrison Ford. (Also, her beloved dog Gary is in attendance, and apparently has already pooped on the conference floor, a gesture we have to assume Fisher would have found funny.)