“Star Wars” producers are planning to bring back Yoda, according to a source familiar with Episode Nine of the storied franchise.
“The success of the scenes featuring Yoda in ‘The Last Jedi’ were huge,” says our insider. If all goes according to plan, the sci-fi space sage will rejoin the series in spirit to mentor a young warrior played by British actress Daisy Ridley, we’re told.
“Yoda will again appear as a ghost as he acknowledges Rey’s success and growth as a Jedi,” we hear. “The scenes are due to be put together later this year.”
Mark Hamill and Yoda in “Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.”
(AP)
We’re also told that Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia character, will not be digitally revived for future films. Fisher died in Dec. 2015, but appeared in Episode eight a year later, thanks to scenes that had already been filmed. Mark Hamill, who played Yoda’s prized student Luke Skywalker, told ABC News on Thursday that with Fisher gone and Harrison Ford’s Han Solo character having been killed off in 2016’s “The Force Awakens,” his enthusiasm for the series has waned.
“It really has tarnished my ability to enjoy it to its fullest,” said Hamill, whose mystical character was killed off in 2017’s “The Last Jedi,” but could also come back as a spirit. It doesn’t matter to him either way.
“I don’t care anymore, on that level,” he confessed. “Because Han Solo is gone, Luke is gone.”
Yoda’s coming back!
Even though actor Peter Cushing died in 1994, the “Star Wars” special effects team revived his character using CGI technology for the “Rogue One” prequel in 2016.
In “Star Wars” lore, Yoda is a 900-year-old character voiced by legendary puppet master Frank Oz. He has in some form or another appeared in six “Star Wars” flicks, including his debut in 1980’s “The Empire Strikes Back” and his physical death in 1983’s “Return of the Jedi.”
The diminutive green monk-like character has numerous fan clubs online and original 2-inch plastic Yoga action figures sold in 1981 sell for $ 350.
