The Rise of Skywalker is all set to wrap up the decades spanning saga that began so long ago with 1977's A New Hope. One of the trinity of original characters, Princess Leia has evolved from the sassy royal who needed rescuing from a guy too short to be a Stormtrooper, to the General and founder of the rapidly decreasing Resistance, tasked with fighting the universe controlling First Order. Sadly, due to the death of beloved actress Carrie Fisher in December 2016, Leia's role in The Rise of Skywalker has been cobbled together from just 8 minutes of unused footage.

Carrie Fisher's brother Todd Fisher has revealed several details about the plans that were in place for his sister's character. Originally, Leia was the Last Jedi. That unfortunately will now never come to pass. Due to the tragic circumstances, director J.J. Abrams was only left with a precious 8 minutes, which he worked tirelessly to fit into The Rise of Skywalker.

"The truth is that J.J. Abrams was great friends with Carrie. [Abrams] had an extraordinary sense of love for her...They had eight minutes of footage. They grabbed every frame and analyzed it... and then reverse-engineered it and [got] it into the story the right way. It's kind of magical."

What these 8 minutes consist of we shall have to wait and see, but it is likely that there will not be a dry eye in the house when fans finally get to see her final work, with Carrie Fisher getting top billing in The Rise of Skywalker.

According to Todd Fisher, his sister's role in The Rise of Skywalker was going to be quite substantial, with the theory being that whilst The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi belonged to fellow original trio members Han Solo and Luke Skywalker respectively, The Rise of Skywalker would belong to Carrie's Leia Organa. In news sure to equally confuse and excite fans, she was even going to be given a big payoff in the finale.

"She was going to be the big payoff in the final film. She was going to be the last Jedi, so to speak. That's cool right?"

Regardless of the amount of Leia screen time we get in this saga ending sequel, it is going to be truly special seeing Leia for the last time when The Rise of Skywalker is released on December 20 this year.

Alongside the late Carrie Fisher, the film features a returning Mark Hamill, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Anthony Daniels, Kelly Marie Tran, and Domhnall Gleeson, as well as Ian McDiarmid and Billy Dee Williams, both bringing back their characters from the original trilogy.

Set a year after the events of The Last Jedi, the remnants of the Resistance must face down the First Order once again, while dealing with the past and their own inner turmoil. Meanwhile the ancient conflict between the Jedi and the Sith heads towards its dramatic climax. The Rise of Skywalker will bring to an end not only the new trilogy, but the entire Skywalker saga. This comes from Yahoo.