10 Simple Fixes That Would Have Saved Star Wars: Rise Of Skywalker

9. Find A Different Role For General Leia

Carrie Fisher's passing in 2016 was such a loss. Fisher was an incredible presence and talent who left us all way too soon, and while it might seem tactless to immediately focus the impact of her loss on Star Wars, it is sadly also apt post-Episode IX.

Leia was always meant to play a key role in Episode IX, but more than a few eyebrows were raised when it was announced that Fisher's role in the film would be completed with unused footage from The Force Awakens. The actual process is nowhere near as seamless as was originally suggested, and it means that all the scenes with Leia in The Rise of Skywalker are really uncomfortable to sit through - nowhere more-so than when her corpse is left lying around on the Rebel Base for ages before it disappears.

Audiences tend to decry off-screen deaths on a regular basis, but given the circumstances of Fisher's passing, is it not possible that would've been the better option? Episode IX could've opened with a longer passage of time in between it and The Last Jedi, and would've still been able to retain Leia's role as Rey's new master. It's also worth noting just how quickly the film moves and how it barely stops to acknowledge Leia's passing. If it had opened with her funeral, and the Resistance coming together to honour their leader, there would've been no need to plaster Fisher's face over a body double, no matter how well intentioned that process was.

In her place could've emerged Rose Tico and Kaydel Connix as the Resistance's main leaders. That way you actually have a meaningful arc for Kelly Marie Tran's character - who was wasted in the finale - and a nice way of honouring Fisher's legacy, with Connix being portrayed by daughter Billie Lourd.