10 Incredible 2017 Movie Characters

Hollywood has always been a tough place for original material. Remakes, sequels, adaptations, and derivative works have been the cinema's bread and butter since motion pictures started telling stories. Because of this, original material is always a breath of fresh air.

This year has been an interesting time for established franchises. X-Men and Star Wars completely bucked their fans expectations with dramatic re-imaginings of their material, and Ridley Scott delivered a one-two punch with two sequels to his most beloved science fiction films (even if the first punch was a wide miss). In between the marketing gears of big budget Hollywood, we saw an astonishing number of character driven films, both big and small.

In this list, we're going to run down 10 of the most unforgettable original characters from 2017 movies. Some of these characters are new additions to established canon, and some are new faces in their own original stories. But in both cases, these characters are all excellent examples of what great acting and great writing can do together.

And be warned: Spoilers ahead.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the most surprisingly polarizing movie of the year. Whatever you think of it, Rian Johnson has a very clever trick up his sleeve for developing his characters. Each one of the protagonists is paired up with a supporting character they can learn a valuable lesson from - i.e. Finn and Rose, Rey and Luke. Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron, who was already a fan favorite after his breakout in The Force Awakens, was paired up with Laura Dern's implacable Admiral Holdo.

Admiral Holdo first appears immediately after a good number of the rebellion command are unceremoniously wiped out. Her appearance is immediately striking - like a purple haired Mon Mothma, she seems more regal than you expect from a renowned battle commander. And throughout the course of this B-Plot, the hotheaded Poe comes up against her time and time again in a battle of emotion vs. experience. While this plot could have benefited from a little more transparency on the part of the Admiral, it's clear she was in the right: Poe is a pilot used to leading by example in times of great stress, not letting cooler heads prevail.

During Poe's attempted mutiny, it's easy to be on his side (Isaac's charisma definitely helps), but at the end of the day Holdo owns the crucial end of The Last Jedi's space standoff. After a heartbreaking farewell to Leia (largely written by Carrie Fisher, according to Johnson), Holdo makes a critical battle decision that creates one of the most awe-inspiring visuals in the Star Wars saga. She doesn't go out with a bang or a whimper, just deadly silence.