How Natalie Portman Can Return to STAR WARS

Natalie Portman turned plenty of heads when she walked into the Avengers: Endgame premier last month. She surprised even more fans when her character Jane Foster appeared on screen in the film. Granted, her physical scenes came via leftover, unused footage from Thor: Dark World. Notwithstanding, she did perform voice-over work for Avengers: Endgame. Now fans are asking if she’ll return for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. We think she will, and here’s how.

Way back in December rumors circulated about Kylo Ren accessing the World Between Worlds. We first saw the Force realm in Star Wars Rebels when Ezra Bridger rescued Ahsoka Tano. As the rumor goes, Kylo Ren would witness scenes of his grandmother’s past as the Force showed him his grandfather’s true nature (at the time). Obviously those scenes would feature Natalie Portman.

Ren would allegedly witness the moment in which Anakin’s journey towards the dark side would be complete. (Although some would argue murdering younglings pretty much gets him there, I’m talking about Anakin nearly choking the life from his wife and unborn children.) Given what we know about the prequels and George Lucas’s direction thereof, I’m willing to be there is plenty of unused footage from the Mustafar scene between Natalie Portman and Hayden Christensen. If the December rumor is true, that’s the easiest way to incorporate the actress into The Rise of Skywalker.

Bringing Natalie Portman back for Episode IX

Bringing Natalie Portman (Padmé Amidala) back makes sense. It especially makes sense considering how J.J. Abrams admits that the final Star Wars saga film will tie all the others together. Further, using previously unseen footage is already on the table. The late Carrie Fisher will appear in Star Wars: Episode IX wholly because of unused footage. (Or, we should say almost wholly. If another rumor is true, well… you can read about that HERE.)

Padmé Amidala was instrumental in Anakin Skywalker’s development, and his descent. Some would even say her complacency was directly to blame for Darth Vader’s creation. Regardless, there’s no question that Natalie Portman and her character are central to the Skywalker saga. It’s hard to imagine The Rise of Skywalker without her in some form of another. Time will tell.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens everywhere December 20.