Even the tiniest details about Star Wars: The Force Awakens won’t be left a mystery for audiences when we head to theaters on Dec. 18. That includes Leia’s title, which is no longer Princess.
One of the many little tidbits director/co-writer J.J. Abrams revealed to Entertainment Weekly for its cover story on Star Wars was that Leia, played again by Carrie Fisher, is now a military leader. Leia is now called a General by the Resistance.
“She’s referred to as General,” Abrams said. “But … there’s a moment in the movie where a character sort of slips and calls her ‘Princess.’”
Of course, the person who might call her ‘Princess’ is Han Solo (Harrison Ford), who called her that throughout the Original Trilogy. Leia was considered the Princess of Alderaan, as Bail Organa’s adoptive daughter.
“The stakes are pretty high in the story for her, so there’s not much goofing around where Leia’s concerned,” Abrams explained. “But it felt historic to have her, especially with Harrison, back in scenes together. I can only imagine the baggage that they bring to it, I’m just a fan who loves this stuff, but they’ve been living with it — and living in it — since ’77.”
Fisher said that Leia is not happy with the current situation when The Force Awakens opens, which is hardly surprising. After all, the galaxy now appears to be run by an evil group once again, even after destroying the Empire 30 years before. The actress described Leia as being “solitary. Under a lot of pressure. Committed as ever to her cause, but I would imagine feeling somewhat defeated, tired, and pissed.”
EW also spoke with Harrison Ford, but it doesn’t look like they have spoken to Mark Hamill, who is playing Luke Skywalker. The character has been missing in every trailer and the mystery behind his disappearance (hopefully) won’t be answered until we see the movie.