Ahsoka came and went with mixed-to-good reactions among many fans and critics. However, as the Star Wars universe expands with Dave Filoni’s vision in tow, it is about time we address the royal double-bun-wearing elephant in the room.
Filoni and Jon Favreau will see the culmination of both of their visions on the big screen in the future, with the former taking the director’s chair down the road for a “Mandalorian-verse” movie in the works. You see, Favreau’s The Mandalorian TV show takes place in the same general period of time as Ahsoka and The Book of Boba Fett — immediately after the events of Return of the Jedi but before Rei and the tyrannical First Order from The Force Awakens and the sequel trilogy.
This means Princess Leia in her prime is out there somewhere during the events of these intersecting Disney Plus shows.
Is Leia’s return already in the works?
The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett have already featured Luke Skywalker by way of a digitally de-aged Mark Hamill. And while a similar trick was done to bring back a CGI duplicate of Carrie Fisher in 2016’s Rogue One, the result was off-putting to many as was Peter Cushing’s resurrection via computer effects in the same film. It was especially unfortunate timing due to the tragic loss of Fisher less than two weeks after the premiere of Rogue One.
While we can accept a de-aged deep fake of Hamill as Luke since the actor is still alive, the same courtesy can’t be extended to Fisher being recreated digitally since she left her mortal coil, making such a creative choice cringey. So the question arises: should Star Wars recast Leia if she should appear in future installments of the Mando-verse?
Leia’s return as a character seems to have been hinted at in the world of Star Wars lately, such as C-3PO making a notable cameo in Ahsoka season 1 episode 7 to deliver a message from her to a council. Leia was also brought back as a child, portrayed by Vivien Lyra Blair for the Disney Plus miniseries Obi-Wan Kenobi, which takes place in a different period of time than The Mandalorian.
Weighing the pros and cons
Just like Lucasfilm brought back an adult Luke in The Mandalorian, they could bring back an adult Leia, too. However, one drawback of the recast method of doing this for Leia is that one character would be a CGI duplicate of Mark Hamill and another would be just a normal actor. We could see this contributing to popping the bubble of suspension of disbelief should the two share scenes together. Another con to recasting Leia is the fact that Fisher’s likeness truly is synonymous with the role and we have an impulse to want to preserve that legacy.
On the other hand, a huge pro to the recasting Leia argument is the fact that she could be incorporated as a bigger part of the adventure should she be portrayed by a normal actor. For instance, it would probably be less expensive just to cast a Leia look-alike than have to throw a bunch of fancy CGI on the screen with any brief appearance. Another advantage can be found in the simple fact that no matter how good the CGI looks, the human eye is still extremely good at picking it out from a crowd. Until technology catches up to our innate abilities, it will always have a level of uncanniness to see a digital duplicate of an actor instead of a flesh-and-bone thespian fulfilling the part.
Now only one question remains: who should play Leia? I’m personally not wise enough to answer this on my own. However, we already have the ultimate suggestion for this which includes an eye-popping photoshop job: Millie Bobby Brown as Leia. Check out the pitch in which we recast the A New Hope crew with modern actors.