Christie and Nyong’o Unsure If They’ll Be Asked Back To Reprise Their STAR WARS Characters

Read Time:2 Minute, 47 Second

When they were cast in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, both Gwendoline Christie (Game of Thrones) and Lupita Nyong’o (12 Years A Slave) were set to play two excitingly new characters in that galaxy far, far away. Fans everywhere were curious about Christie’s chrome-covered, cape-wearing Captain Phasma, and Nyong’o was to be the voice of the mysterious Maz Kanata. The two characters made their presences felt in key sequences in The Force Awakens, but with the way things played out in last month’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, both actresses are unsure if they’ll be asked back for a third go-around as Phasma and Kanata.

With regard to Christie, the future of her Captain Phasma is understandably murky. The Last Jedi writer-director Rian Johnson seemingly had the character killed off in the film, when Finn (John Boyega) and BB-8 teamed up to knock her off of a First Order vessel and seemingly into the infinite reaches of space.

When Celebretainment asked what she thought the chances were of us seeing Phasma again, perhaps in Star Wars: Episode IV, which will find the man who co-created the character, J.J. Abrams, back at the helm, she said:

“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.”

She’s not the only one who wants to see this character explored. Fans everywhere have felt ripped off by the hype and subsequent disposal of Phasma in both of the last two Star Wars episode. She’s a striking character, visually, and Christie has an ardent fanbase thanks to her work as Brienne of Tarth in Game of Thrones. And yet, in The Force Awakens, they barely scratched the surface on her before- literally– tossing her down a garbage chute. For The Last Jedi, her epic encounter with Finn was featured prominently in all of the trailers and ads, and yet her appearance amounted to a few fleeting minutes before her aforementioned defeat.

In the case of Nyong’o’s Kanata, there’s probably a much bigger chance she’ll reappear. The character, who was important during a seminal sequence in The Force Awakens, was relegated to the equivalent of a cameo in The Last Jedi where she gave Poe (Oscar Isaac), Finn, and Rose (Kelly Marie Tran) vital information about where to find a master hacker.

Still, as of now, Nyong’o says she can’t say with certainty whether or not she’ll be back.

“I don’t know yet,” Nyong’o told The Hollywood Reporter, when asked. “I’ll know soon.”

It makes sense that she’ll know soon, as it’s likely that Abrams and writing partner Chris Terrio (Argo, Batman v Superman) are close to finishing the script for Episode IX, and that’s when actors will be notified of any impending reprisals.

We’ll get our next chance to see Nyong’o in action in next month’s hotly-anticipated Black Panther from Marvel Studios.

What do you think? Are you hoping to see more of Phasma and/or Kanata? How would you feel if you found out both characters were going to sit out the finale of this new Star Wars trilogy?

SOURCES: Celebretainment / THR