New Internet Petition Has a Plan to Replace Carrie Fisher in Star Wars Episode IX

To paraphrase the great ZAZ comedy Top Secret, internet petitions are worth less than a truckload full of dead rats in a tampon factory. However, every now and again you'll come across one that makes you stop and think, "Well that's not a completely useless idea." That day came this morning for me when I saw that fans had come up with a fairly ingenious way to solve the Princess Leia problem created by Carrie Fisher's death.

Rian Johnson left her alive and well at the end of The Last Jedi, and with the announcement that Lucasfilm had no plans to digitally replace her, it left Episode IX screenwriters J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio in a tough place. This internet petition seeks to solve that problem via recasting the role, something no one dared speak about out loud... until I saw the actress they were suggesting: Meryl Streep.

I know what you're first thought is: Come on! But then you stop and remember that the two had been the best of friends following the making of 1990's Postcards from the Edge, the Mike Nichols film adaptation of one of Fisher's memoirs starring Meryl as Carrie. It's kind of a stroke of genius, honestly.

No, it's not ideal, but we've got to move past that. Leia's story is not finished. It's simply not over, so this solves the problem in a way that's both sensible and practical. I've got to hand it to the internet on this one. They've kinda figured out the best case scenario, in my mind anyway. Like most internet petitions of late, however, it won't work. People were too quick to cave to the pressure of pop culture petitions a few years back and it's ruined them for all time.

It's time to get one cooking, though, and I think this is the one. Head over to ThePetitionSite and sign on to this idea if you support it as well.

[h/t ComicBookMovie]