10 Ridiculously Long Periods Between Movie Character Appearances

When you have a beloved franchise that has been ongoing since 1977, there's always a good chance quite a few iconic characters will be brought back into the fold further down the line. Especially when the Star Wars sequel trilogy decided to go all-in on nostalgia.

First we start with the big three: Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, and Mark Hamill. Last seen in Return of the Jedi in 1983, Leia, Han, and Luke all returned for 2015's Force Awakens. Peter Mayhew's Chewbacca disappeared after Episode VI until reappearing in Episode III in 2005. Frank Oz has played Jedi Master Yoda through all of the movies, with his longest break between '05 and '17 when Yoda reappeared in The Last Jedi.

Though divisive in how he was brought back, it was also pretty cool to see Ian McDiarmid return as Emperor Palpatine in The Rise of Skywalker - 14 years after Revenge of the Sith. And, the longest gap of all of them: Billy Dee Williams returning as Lando Calrissian after 36 years!

Good thing excessive nostalgia regularly leads to critical and box office success, right?