What Carrie Fisher's Death Means For Star Wars: The Last Jedi and Episode IX

The unexpected death of Carrie Fisher left many of us devastated. From her iconic role as Princess Leia to her various other movie appearances, she was a true star. The news has also left us with questions — mainly, what will happen with Leia in the upcoming Star Wars films?

Yes, Rogue One proved the digital effects team can recreate the young princess, but Leia is older in the new installments. Carrie Fisher reprised the role for 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and as we saw in the new trailer for The Last Jedi, she's definitely back in action for Episode VIII as well. We don't know how much of the film Fisher will appear in as Leia, but since filming concluded on The Last Jedi in July of 2016, months before her death, it's safe to assume she shot all of her scenes.

Unfortunately, Episode IX is another story. Filming on the third film in the new trilogy didn't begin until 2017, and both Fisher and Mark Hamill were initially expected to return. This means that Leia's storyline probably won't be wrapped up as tidily in The Last Jedi as we might hope (it's worth noting that the trailer also hints that Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, is pressured to kill her by Supreme Leader Snoke). At this point, we know for a fact that a CGI version of Fisher is out of the question, even if Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd reportedly gave Disney permission to use footage of her in the next movie. Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy assured fans in April that Fisher's likeness would not appear in Episode IX. "Sadly, Carrie will not be in Nine," the producer said in an interview with ABC News. "But we will see a lot of Carrie in Eight."

We'll have to wait and see how it all shakes out, but one thing is certain: the Star Wars universe won't be the same without Fisher's Leia.