General Leia and her legacy in EP IV!

I really don't know what to say as Leia was such an important character in the story. How would they explain her passing in the movie? Somehow they must address her passing but how to do it in a meaningful way is the very tricky part. I mean, how do they explain that such a vital character died off screen? And what would be the reason? Will they say she was sick? Died of heartache like her mother before her? I'm pretty sure that in order to honor Carrie's family they wont have Leia murdered by a bad guy so it's really anyone's guess.

 

I find it utterly bizarre that certain members of these forums still cannot differentiate between fictional characters and the actors who portrayed them.
For clarity:

Carrie Fisher (actress) has died. She played Princess Leia, a fictional character who remains "alive" and last seen "alive" in Episode VII.

Harrison Ford (actor) has not died. He played Han Solo, a fictional character who was killed in Episode VII.

 

Leia could quite easily be played by another actress. Things like this have happened before, for example, Professor Dumbledore from Harry Potter was played by two actors after the first, Richard Harris died and was replaced by Michael Gambon.

Why not re-hire Koo Stark? Koo played Kami in ANH, the girlfriend of Fixer, who worked at Tosche Station. Kami teased Luke and nicknamed him "Wormie".
All Tosche Station scenes were cut out of the final version. A shame in my opinion, as the scenes showed Luke as an excitable naive youth.

Koo Stark is exactly the same age as Carrie Fisher and it might be a nice way of making up for Koo's deleted scenes. They even look alike, a bit.

I'm not suggesting that a new actress should be hired for Episode VIII, as Carries scenes were all done. Instead of killing off Leia in IX to avoid continuity problems, perhaps they could recast?


^ Koo Stark as 'Kami' in 1976.


Koo Stark recently.

 

Maybe she walks off into the twin sunsets off screen. Maybe she decides to retire and write a memoir about her life off screen.

Why die on screen? Why not something different? Why think about it all? 9 is far away from now and 8 isn't even close to being out yet.

 

I don't think recasting is an option here. For the last 40 years Carrie was Princess Leia (that baby at the end of Episode III doesn't count) and giving Leia's role to a different actress would be like recasting Germione Granger for the very last "Harry Potter" film - it would stick out like a sore thumb. Besides, people speak of the Sequel Trilogy's storyline like it's set in stone. It's not. Episode VIII's production will last for another year and Episode IX won't be in cinemas for another three. That's more than plenty of time to adjust the story to new circumstances. After all, even Rian Johnson still needed to apply some changes into his script after "The Force Awakens" premiered and he had a virually unlimited access to information from Episode VII's set.

 

She'll be remembered as a war hero, a princess and a mother.

 

I read one idea someone had on Twitter in that you keep Episode 8 as is (I assume she survives as The Episode 9 director previously said he wanted to expand her role).

Have Episode 9 take place 2-3 years after Episode 8 and then have the Opening Crawl about Leia dying from a fatal disease between the movies. You could then talk about how Rey/Luke and the Resistance were coping with her death while trying to find a new leader. Maybe you give Billy Lourd the role of Leader of the Resistance (out of respect for Carrie) and she play a major role in Episode 9.