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Carrie Fisher was a whole lot more than just Princess Leia.
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She was a fierce advocate for social causes, an important voice for destigmatizing mental
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illness, a bang-up script doctor on many of your favorite 1990s movies, and an incredible
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author.
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It's not often that one person can be so talented in so many fields, but Fisher was the exception.
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She lived more in her six decades than most of us ever will in a lifetime, and we'll never
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know what more she had in store for us.
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But as incredible as she was in all these different ways, she's still best known for
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one thing above all: her role as Leia in Star Wars.
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Her tragic passing due to a heart attack will almost certainly affect the future of Star
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Wars.
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As sad as we fans are, it's impossible not to ask the question that's on all our minds:
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what effect might our loss of Carrie Fisher have on Episode VIII and Episode IX?
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Will they change Episode VIII?
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Shooting on director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII actually wrapped back in July
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2016, and it’s been confirmed that Fisher had already finished her scenes for the 2017
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debuting film.
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So, however Disney decides to address Fisher's passing, they have a decent bit of footage
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and a good chunk of time to figure it out.
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Productions this big usually have a tight schedule, but as Rogue One showed us, it's
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not uncommon to go back for extensive reshoots and editing in the months leading up to release.
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If Disney decides to address Fisher's passing in a more direct way, like having General
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Leia be written off into retirement or die heroically, there’s some time to tackle
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that.
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But, it might not be easy.
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Going full CGI
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As the computer-generated cameos in Rogue One made clear, fully CGI characters can’t
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yet seamlessly share the screen with live actors.
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Though the resurrection of Peter Cushing’s Grand Moff Tarkin was a powerful test for
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how far digital effects have come, the resurrected actor still looked a bit off when acting alongside
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living actors on screen.
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Lucasfilm knew that Tarkin had to be in Rogue One, since he's the commander of the Death
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Star, and it'd be strange for him not to be there in some capacity.
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Even his limited screen time was a whole lot of expensive work, so it's not really feasible
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to try and do this for a main character in a film.
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If they try to alter or add Leia scenes digitally, it could get tricky.
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It’s been done before
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If we're looking for a modern example for how Fisher's passing might be addressed on-screen,
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we don’t need to look further than Furious 7.
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To finish Paul Walker's character's story, the studio used a mix of CGI and human stand-ins
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to narratively retire Walker's character and have him ride off into the sunset with his family.
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It’s a viable concept to apply to Episode VIII, because Leia is obviously one of the
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most iconic Star Wars characters in the franchise.
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They'll have to address her absence at some point in the next couple of films.
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Who leads the Resistance next?
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Leia had become a revered Resistance leader by the beginning of The Force Awakens.
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So in the wake of Fisher's passing, who will lead the Resistance?
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Star Wars now has a fair share of strong, young heroes, and it's not crazy to think
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that folks like Poe Dameron, Finn, or Rey could eventually step into that void.
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Of course, Luke Skywalker is another obvious option, considering he'll be returning for
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a major role in Episode VIII.
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So, if they're looking for a steady hand to take the lead, he'd certainly be a worthy
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successor.
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How could this affect Luke and Kylo Ren’s arcs?
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Any changes the producers make to Leia's story for the next two films will resonate with her relatives.
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Luke and Leia’s sibling bond was definitely important to the script pages hidden deep
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inside Lucasfilm.
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And the big story for Leia and Han in The Force Awakens was the effort to turn their
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son back from the Dark Side… which didn’t end so well.
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Did Lucasfilm plan to rely on the mother-son story between Leia and Kylo Ren?
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And if so, how does that story have to change now?
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Could Leia’s absence change Kylo's fate before the new trilogy comes to an end?
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Could potentially losing both parents push him to the Light?
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Or further into the Dark?
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Either way, Star Wars just won’t be the same without Carrie Fisher.
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"I love you."
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"I know."
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