Carrie Fisher’s untimely death sent shockwaves through the Star Wars fan base three years ago this week. The actress, perhaps best known for her iconic role as Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy, had just finished shooting The Last Jedi, which was still a year away from release. Now, she is appearing in the sequel to that movie, with The Rise of Skywalker currently in theaters. Mark Hamill also appears in this saga ending installment of the immensely popular franchise. He takes a moment out of the long Holiday weekend to celebrate the legacy of his co-star and friend.
#CarrieOnForever 💔 pic.twitter.com/MjyarIUu55
— Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) December 27, 2019
Having finished shooting The Last Jedi, Disney and Lucasfilm decided to honor Carrie Fisher’s legacy by keeping her full performance intact for the movie. This did cause a few problems for its sequel, The Rise of Skywalker. Each new chapter in the sequel trilogy was meant to be given to the trinity. Harrison Ford’s Han Solo would get the first movie, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker would get the second, and Carrie Fisher’s General Leia Organa was meant to be the main OG star of The Rise of Skywalker.
Now, through the use of VFX, director JJ Abrams and his crew have gone through the archives and restructured brand-new scenes featuring Carrie Fisher as Leia, editing together from old unused footage from both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. The Rise of Skywalker brings closure to Leia’s story arc, showing fans that she was trained as a Jedi following the events in The Return of the Jedi. Though she quit her training to take care of her son Ben Solo, she is now training Rey in the ways of the Force. She sacrifices herself to save her son from the Dark Side. And ends the movie as a Force Ghost alongside her Twin Brother Luke.
Carrie Fisher appeared in all three new trilogy movies, and is featured in the very last scene. She also played a prominent role in the original trilogy. And even got to sing in the much maligned Star Wars Holiday Special, which creator George Lucas has tried to bury for years, though it is easily accessible on Youtube.
In remembering Carrie Fisher, and paying tribute to her legacy, Mark Hamill shared four images. The first of which is the title card from The Rise of Skywalker that reads “In Loving Memory of our Princess Carrie Fisher”. We get to see a then and now comparison with Luke’s final words to Leia before their death, ‘No one’s ever really gone.’ The final image is a cartoon of Luke and Han laying their bravery medals on Princess Leia’s grave.
You can see Carrie Fisher in her final film role this Christmas weekend in The Rise of Skywalker, which is outpacing The Last Jedi in theaters. This tribute comes direct from Mark Hamill on Twitter.
