​Carrie Fisher's tragic death in late 2016 left the door open to a plethora of possibilities with her character Princess Leia's storyline. 


​Episode IX director, JJ Abrams, and Fisher's brother, Todd, ​confirmed in July that unused footage of Fisher from The Force Awakens would be used for the new film. 

"We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” Abrams said. “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 [The Force Awakens]."


And much to the delight of Star Wars fans, there is now news that even more unseen footage will be used in Episode IX. 


ABC News' Clayton Sandell ​recently reported Todd has confirmed to him that unused footage from ​The Last Jedi will also be incorporated into the upcoming Abrams film.

“I talked to Todd Fisher today about all of this and he has been talking with JJ Abrams about it," Sandell said on The Resistance Broadcast podcast. "I asked ... about The Last Jedi, and they are also using unused footage from The Last Jedi. I asked him how many minutes of footage they had from it and he said, 'I can't tell you that!'"


Some fans are even more excited for unseen footage from the The Last Jedi being used than scenes from The Force Awakens. 

Along with Fisher, ​Mark Ham​ill is also set to return, despite Luke Skywalker's death in The Last Jedi. The highly anticipated film is set for release in December 2019.