Gwendoline Christie talks Phasma’s possible return in Star Wars: Episode IX

Did Captain Phasma really die in Star Wars: The Last Jedi? Actress Gwendoline Christie opens up about her character’s possible return in Episode IX.

Captain Phasma is probably the most underused character in the Star Wars cinematic universe. With her chrome armor and badass attitude making her stand out from the other First Order stormtroopers, and with her own book written and released in the lead-up to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, fans expected to get a lot more from the character that had a ton of potential in The Force Awakens, only to thrown down a garbage chute and forgotten.

Phasma actress Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth from Game of Thrones) recently spoke to U.K. publication The Times and voiced her concern over her character’s possible demise in The Last Jedi.

Lucasfilm

"In truth, I don’t know. And that scares and upsets me because I really want to see this character explored. I’m actually very invested in the character now. And that’s genuine. That’s not just chat. It has opened up a chain of stories and events in my mind about who Phasma is."

Much like with The Force Awakens, hopes for Phasma’s character development in The Last Jedi were high, only to be discarded after a few lines and a brief fight between her and Finn. All that build-up for such a minimal amount of screentime is a major concern for new characters being introduced in these new Star Wars films.

According to Digital Spy, director Rian Johnson noted he “had a really full movie already,” when it came to explaining the lack of Phasma in The Last Jedi.

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"Phasma supports Finn’s storyline, obviously… and until she shows up to fight him at the end, look through the story that we have, there’s just not a lot of space to go into a big Phasma storyline in it."

Yeesh. As much as this writer will defend Star Wars: The Last Jedi as a very good Star Wars film, that doesn’t deserve all the hate and negativity from the divided fanbase, making the excuse that Phasma was only there to support Finn’s story, and that the movie was too full for her own character arc, is a shaky topic Rian Johnson would have been better leaving alone.

Perhaps not sending Finn and Rose to Canto Bight on a doomed-from-the-start mission that served no real purpose in the first place, would have allowed more room for characters that fans really wanted to see. Characters like Captain Phasma, Maz Kanata, or even the Knights of Ren…but I digress.

Next: Here’s a deleted scene from The Last Jedi featuring Rey

Whether or not Phasma will return from her firey fall in The Last Jedi, for Episode IX, is anyone’s guess. But, with J.J. Abrams returning to end the sequel trilogy, you never know what might happen. Star Wars: Episode IX is slated to hit theaters in December of 2019.