Rian Johnson's "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" boldly took risks by killing off a few major characters. While some of them are clearly gone for good, there is one character whose fate may not be finalized yet as it seemed.
Of all the casualties, Captain Phasma's (Gwendoline Christie) death is the most ambiguous. Fans last saw her battling with Finn (John Boyega) in the burning First Order ship. The latter gets the better of the female Stormtrooper and knocks her to the ground, which ultimately collapses, sending her into a presumed fiery death below.
However, Johnson recently hinted that Phasma may have secretly survived in the film. When asked about her possible survival, the director jokingly told Entertainment Weekly that "Phasma is the Kenny from South Park of this series," referencing the animated sitcom character that is routinely killed only to show up alive and well in the following episode.
Mark Hamill, aka Luke Skywalker in the franchise, thinks Christie's character is alive, too. In fact, he even has his own theory on how she could have survived her "Last Jedi" fall.
"I think she's got to survive. She falls through the flames and lands on a big pile of rubbish," he said, later adding, "No one's ever really gone."
Phasma was almost killed in "The Force Awakens" when she was dumped down a garbage compactor on Starkiller Base, which was blown up shortly thereafter. Her fate also remained up in the air, but she was still able to return. This is to say it is not unprecedented for the film to make viewers presume that Phasma died, only for it to be revealed that she did not. She has escaped death once, so there is a chance she could do so once again.
Chances are slimmer this time. But if Christie is asked, costume designer Michael Kaplan says the actress wants to come back and she already has an idea how the chrome-armored Stormtrooper will return. It is now just up to Episode 9 director J.J. Abrams to make that happen.
"Star Wars Episode 9" is scheduled for release on Dec. 20, 2019.
