Some ‘Star Wars’ Fans Want Meryl Streep To Be Princess Leia In ‘Episode IX’

You may have seen this floating around recently. It’s a petition requesting Meryl Streep to be recast as Princess Leia/General Organa in Star Wars: Episode IX. A lot of fans against the idea have almost immediately dismissed it as a very odd April Fool’s jokes but the petition has created conversation on just how Leia’s character will be continued or discontinued in the final instalment in the trilogy.

Original actor, Carrie Fisher suddenly died in December 2016 some time after filming The Last Jedi. Her death left a gaping hole in the Star Wars universe so of course any talk of Carrie and her iconic character is something quite sensitive for passionate fans.

The detailed petition explains how fans wish for Leia’s character to be continued and not just written off. Carrie is obviously irreplaceable but these fans argue Meryl could make a suitable replacement.

The petition reads,

“After the death of Carrie Fisher, there have been a lot of uncertainties in how STAR WARS Episode IX is going to deal with Leia. As Lucasfilm claimed that they have no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher with CGI in STAR WARS Episode IX, the more possible solutions are to recast Leia or to write her out of the film… As the fans of STAR WARS and Carrie Fisher, we really want Leia to shine in Episode IX and we certainly do not want her to be written out of the film abruptly without a reasonable plot. Therefore, recasting Leia is a more ideal option for us and we believe that Meryl Streep is an ideal candidate to play Leia.”

The petition goes onto list Meryl’s acting achievements.

 “Apart from her acclaimed acting performances, her close relationship with Carrie Fisher and her performance in POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE also made her an ideal candidate to play Leia in STAR WARS Episode IX. In POSTCARDS FROM THE EDGE, written by Carrie Fisher and based on her semi-autobiographical novel, Meryl Streep played Suzanne Vale, who is believed to be based on Carrie Fisher herself. Therefore, Meryl Streep’s performance in the film can be seen as her portrayal as Carrie Fisher.”

According to the description, it seems the petition was written some time ago but in the way the internet works, it’s been picked up again and spread through Twitter. Hundreds have added their names to the petition over the past few days with a total of 8,557 supporters of the original 9,000 goal.

As well as adding their names to the petition, some fans also shared why they believe a recast is necessary.

If the petition is in fact a joke… well either people are very sarcastic or they took it seriously.

the.petitionsite.com

Meanwhile, other fans have taken to Twitter to share how they absolutely want no part of this at all.

https://twitter.com/PsAMermaid/status/980616026575572993

https://twitter.com/GrrrrJones/status/980428431417626624

https://twitter.com/Agresta2798/status/980335713194577920

This is just a petition though with absolutely no support from either parties mentioned in the petition so what will be of Leia’s final chapter in the saga is yet to be known.

Star Wars: Episode IX is due in cinemas December 2019. 

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