Carrie Fisher passed away in December 2016, but her legacy lives on in the Star Wars franchise. Thanks to the power of technology and unused footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the late actress will appear in the upcoming Star Wars film The Rise Of Skywalker, and you can see a few seconds of it in the newly-released teaser trailer.
The trailer, which revealed the name of Episode IX for the first time, includes a shot of Rey (Daisy Ridley) embracing Leia Organa (Fisher) as a tear rolls down her cheek. A voiceover says "we'll always be with you...no one's ever really gone" and it's just about sending fans over the edge.
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"I am going to cry so so so so so so so much I love Rey and I love Leia and I miss Carrie Fisher," Nerdist editor-in-chief Rachel Heine tweeted.
I am going to cry so so so so so so so much I love Rey and I love Leia and I miss Carrie Fisher pic.twitter.com/TerLazxIl1
— Rachel Heine (@RachelHeine) April 12, 2019
"Yep, a shot of Carrie Fisher hugging Rey followed by 'no one's ever really gone' DOES INDEED MAKE ME CRY. THANKS."
Yep, a shot of Carrie Fisher hugging Rey followed by "no one's ever really gone" DOES INDEED MAKE ME CRY. THANKS. #EpisodeIX
— Anna Menta (@annalikestweets) April 12, 2019
"Carrie Fisher will live on forever and I am so glad she will have a role in #EpisodeIX."
Carrie Fisher will live on forever and I am so glad she will have a role in #EpisodeIX. pic.twitter.com/hL0ksITyMw
— Connor J Behrens (@ConnorBehrens) April 12, 2019
During a panel at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago over the weekend, J.J. Abrams elaborated on Fisher's impact and the process of including her in the upcoming film.
"She was the best. She was glorious. She was amazing," he told moderator Stephen Colbert. "It was impossible, there was no way. What are you gonna do?...The weird miracle of having had a number of scenes from The Force Awakens that had gone unused, looking at those scenes and starting to understand that there was actually a way to use those scenes to continue her story so it would be her."
Fisher's brother previously endorsed Abrams' use of the footage, telling Good Morning America back in December that the family is "thrilled at what’s been done."
“There’s a lot of minutes of footage. I don’t mean just outtakes,” he explained. “This is unused, new content that could be woven into the storyline. That’s what’s going to give everybody such a great kick. It’s going to look like it was meant to be. Like it was shot yesterday.”
Watch the full trailer below.