There’s less than 18 months until the scheduled release of Star Wars Episode IX, so it follows that returning director JJ Abrams should have a fair idea of who he’s taking along for the ride right now.
Sure enough, along comes an official announcement from Disney-Lucasfilm, which confirms the central cast and crew we can expect to see in the third chapter in the current sequel trilogy.
You probably won’t drop a tray of drinks in shock at most of these, but for the sake of completeness, it’s confirmed that Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver and Oscar Isaac will be reprising their roles as Rey, Kylo Ren and Poe Dameron respectively, while John Boyega and Kelly Marie Tran will, unsurprisingly, be reuniting as Star Wars couple Finn and Rose.
Also returning are Domhnall Gleeson as the increasingly hapless General Hux, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata (whose role in the last film was reduced to a space-going Skype video chat), and Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca. There’s no mention of the wonderful Peter Mayhew joining the cast, so we’re guessing Suotamo is now taking on the Chewie role full-time.
The more surprising announcements are Naomi Ackie, Richard E Grant and Keri Russell in as-yet undisclosed roles, plus appearances from Anthony Daniels and Billie Lourd, the daughter of the late, sorely-missed Carrie Fisher (more on her in a moment).
Disney-Lucasfilm have also confirmed rumours that Billy Dee Williams is returning as Lando Calrissian; he’s the latest in the veteran Original Trilogy cast to come back to the Star Wars fold. It’s also confirmed that Mark Hamill will play some part in the movie, though whether this will be little more than a cameo or something more substantial is anyone’s guess.
The greater part of the announcement, quite rightly, addresses the question of how Episode IX will honour the memory of Carrie Fisher, who tragically died shortly after the filming of The Last Jedi. Disney-Lucasfilm had previously said it wouldn’t recast the role or use CGI trickery to complete Leia’s story; the studio’s now confirmed that unused footage from The Force Awakens will be used for her scenes in Episode IX.
“We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” director JJ Abrams says in the release. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”
Under the circumstances, this is perhaps the most respectful way of ending Leia’s story without simply leaving her out of the final chapter entirely.
In happier news, John Williams will once again be returning to provide Episode IX’s no-doubt sumptuous score. Let’s face it, the movies wouldn’t be the same without him.
Star Wars Episode IX is due for release in December 2019. For the full list of cast and crew confirmations, you can visit the Star Wars official website.