As production on Star Wars: Episode IX nears its end, actor Anthony Daniels has taken to Twitter with a heartfelt message announcing that C-3PO has shot his last scenes for the upcoming trilogy-closer.
At the end of his final day of filming, Daniels reflected on his experience, while also shouting out director J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy for the talented team they led:
“Today was 3PO’s last on Episode IX. He’s sad – so am I. But we’re so proud to have worked with such a lovely, talented cast & crew lead by J.J. & Kathy. I’ll miss everyone but I’m glad to know that we’ve been making something exceptional together, to share with the waiting world.”
Daniels has been part of the Skywalker saga since the very beginning, and is now the only performer to appear in all nine episodes of the series, as well as making brief appearance in both Rogue One and Solo. Given how omnipresent he’s been in the franchise, we certainly can’t rule out 3PO showing up in future movies, but at the very least, this’ll probably be the last chance the droid will have to interact with fellow Original Trilogy regulars like Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa.
Needless to say, we’re nearing the end of an era, with Abrams’ trilogy essentially serving as an extended passing of the torch between generations. 3PO’s friend R2-D2 even has an obvious successor in BB-8, and there’ve already been rumors of at least one more Resistance droid entering the picture for this next film.
In any case, with an Episode IX teaser looking unlikely to drop during this Sunday’s Super Bowl, we may have to wait until the Star Wars Celebration in April to see any official footage from the movie. But regardless of what the coming months bring, we’ll be catching up with the old gang at least one more time when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.