Star Wars Episode 9 - 8 Most Outlandish Fan Theories
6. The End Of Episode IX Was In Episode VIII
Buried in a Star Wars theories post attempting to prove that Snoke is really Luke, user Fazi_Snaxxx included a paragraph that offered a weird explanation as to why Leia might not be in Episode IX: the Mary Poppins scene in The Last Jedi is actually meant to come at the end of the trilogy.
"As to why I believe it was said by producers that Leia won't be in Ep. IX... I think this can be easily explained by my theory that we have ALREADY been shown one of the last scenes of the saga - this being the scene where Leia force pulls herself into the ship. I think the scenes are purposely shot out of order to confuse us. It makes sense that this was the last scene, because it was after the rebels took out one of the huge enemy ships, the dreadnought. What a fitting ending that could be to the saga...I guess?"
Not that we need to, but let's rip it to shreds...
Why It's Outlandish: Leia's story continues on after this scene, and she plays an important part in the remainder of The Last Jedi. So how could this moment be near the end of the saga? Why would Lucasfilm shoot an Episode IX scene when they don't have a script for it, and during the production of Episode VIII? Just no no no no no.....
Also, nobody has ever confirmed that Leia won't be in Episode IX. We've had confirmation that Carrie Fisher won't be in it, and the actress won't be digitally recreated, but Leia could still appear - off-camera voicework by an impersonator, a body double, flashback footage from an earlier film, etc.