After getting exactly one minute of screen time in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Luke Skywalker is confirmed to be a major driving force in the next sequel, which doesn't have an official title yet. He will play Jedi master and mentor to Rey in Star Wars: Episode VIII, stepping into fill the giant void left by the death of Han Solo. While he'll essentially be a key supporting cast member billed only behind the three new heroes, another classic character is still getting the shaft when it comes to screen time. But what precious little scenes we get to spend with former Princess turned General Leia Organa, the fact that we'll finally get to see her do something truly awesome might make up for it.

Leading into The Force Awakens, many wondered and theorized over whether or not Leia had become a Jedi after all these years. Yoda did once say there 'was another'. As it turns out, we still haven't seen Leia wield the powerful light side of the force, or even ebb over into the dark side of this wading pool. She is not, and will not become a Jedi as far as we know in this new trilogy. And that is pushing her to the sidelines somewhat. But if a new rumor pans out, we will get to see her use the force in one pretty spectacular scene early in the movie.

General Leia, reprised by Carrie Fisher, doesn't get much to do in Star Wars: Episode VIII. Sources close to the movie claim she once had a much bigger role to play, but her scenes have been whittled down to virtually nothing. Today, new rumors have flooded in from the IMDB Forums, a lofty place to be getting news, sure, but the user in question who goes by Mr_Ghostfast_Lives did provide some early Force Awakens spoilers that all turned out to be true. Perhaps he's a good guesser. He reiterates that Luke Skywalker will never be revealed as Rey's father, and that she may not be of the Skywalker bloodline. He goes onto say this.

"First of all, Luke is not Rey's father. If you really can't let go of this, watch Episode VII and pay attention. He is not revealed to be her father in Episode VIII, nor will he be in Episode IX. The second and more exciting [rumor] is that Leia uses the force in Episode VIII. It is unfortunately true that they have minimized her screen time by writing her out after an attack early on, but the really cool thing about that sequence is that Leia survives only because she uses the Force. That's all the detail you're getting, but it's a fact. I appreciate the need for evidence, but come next year, you'll know it's correct."

And perhaps it is. Before Attack of the Clones came out, everyone wondered what it would be like to see Yoda use the force and engage in a lightsaber battle. George Lucas, paying fan service, gave us this scene and then some. The reaction was split, fans loved it and hated it for various reasons. How will Leia utilize the force and make it her own? We have no idea. But it sounds like the next logical step in wowing fans, but there's the potential here to really piss off everyone as well, so such a scene will be handled with kid gloves for sure.

This rumor has not been confirmed by anyone associated with the movie, and should be taken with a grain of Jakku sand. It's a fun rumor, and one that has been speculated on ever since Empire. So it's not too hard to make this stuff up. Leia, being a Skywalker, has force abilities. It's likely we'll see her use them in some way before Fisher's character is dispatched.

The source goes onto claim that Rey and Luke have no blood connection, other than that they are teacher and student. And it doesn't sound like the identity of Rey's parents will be revealed in this next sequel. Last we heard from those actually working on the movie, J.J. Abrams never really came to a solid conclusion as to who Rey's parents even are. And it's something Rian Johnson has struggled with in writing the script for Episode 8. We only have a year and a half to find how Rey's story progresses forward, which in the scheme of things, really isn't that long of a wait at all.