New Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker footage shows Leia with a lightsaber
Does this mean fans will finally get to see Leia show off her lightsaber fighting skills?
A new 30-second Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker promotional TV spot debuted on Saturday showing off some footage of none other than the late, great Carrie Fisher as General Leia wielding a lightsaber.
But this may not just be any lightsaber -- it could belong to her father Anakin Skywalker (who later becomes Darth Vader). Or even more startling, has Leia always had her very own lightsaber different than her brother's lightsaber?
Star Wars fans already know that Leia was apparently planned to be the last Jedi in The Rise of Skywalker, so it's not too surprising that everyone finally gets to see Leia with a lightsaber.
This posthumous appearance for Fisher as Leia seems extra sentimental. Luckily for Star Wars fans, her appearance in the final film of the new trilogy was made from using previous footage that was cut from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi.
The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams mentioned on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert on Nov. 26 how he wanted to respectfully keep Fisher in the new film.
"We knew there was no way we could finish this Skywalker saga without Leia, it was impossible," Abrams said. "We knew we would never want to do a digital Leia, and of course couldn't recast it, and then I remembered we had these scenes that we'd shot for Force Awakens that we'd never used."
"At the time I was really upset that we weren't using them because it was Carrie and it was Leia, and how do you not use them?" Abrams continued. "Weirdly those scenes were material that we 100% realized could be used to tell her story in this film, so every time you're seeing Leia in scenes with other characters, it's Carrie in this movie."
As expected, fans tweeted excitedly about seeing General Leia holding a lightsaber.
"Leia holding Anakin's lightsaber is what we all deserve," user Maezov tweeted on Saturday.
"Leia Organa holding her father's lightsaber; this is a moment I will never forget," user Riseofpadme tweeted.
LEIA HOLDING ANAKIN'S LIGHTSABER IS WHAT WE ALL DESERVE pic.twitter.com/egNkkA8qYo
— ͏n͏e͏r͏k͏a (@maezov) November 30, 2019
LEIA ORGANA HOLDING HER FATHER'S LIGHTSABER THIS IS A MOMENT I WILL NEVER FORGET pic.twitter.com/21qDIm4vbp
— . (@riseofpadme) November 30, 2019
I feel like after this shot, the leia training/ helping rey theory is more plausible and then at some point they have a moment 🥺 pic.twitter.com/h2p9efbf2T
— 𝓢𝓪𝓶 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮𝓼 𝓢𝓽𝓪𝓻 𝓦𝓪𝓻𝓼 (@reylogates) November 30, 2019
she always wanted leia to have a lightsaber and now she does🥺 pic.twitter.com/uHgJNyP9gN
— 𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐫! (@leiacarrie) November 30, 2019
Leia holding stuff makes me emotional #TheRiseOfSkywalker pic.twitter.com/nCsvu8L0gh
— K.S (@legendarylourd) November 30, 2019
Before everyone freaks Leia is holding the repaired Anakin saber https://t.co/C2mK4fKftx pic.twitter.com/Vwy0QrRmVB
— Dani #kyloandrey (@CardiganVixen) November 30, 2019
the fact that leia stans have waited since 1977 for her to hold a lightsaber in a star wars movie...literal tears pic.twitter.com/rkxycvXSmo
— 𝐥𝐞𝐢𝐚 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐚 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬𝐚𝐛𝐞𝐫! (@leiacarrie) November 30, 2019
ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. wow https://t.co/QVCz6qrJmR
— 105 yr old jaina solo (@nicolecieux) December 1, 2019
Fans will get to see Fisher again in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which opens worldwide Dec. 20, with previews Dec. 19.
