Weird Questions About 'Star Wars': What are the chances that we'll get Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX with the original cast coming back to reprise their roles?

Quora, a popular Q&A site that is a direct competitor to Yahoo! Answers, has hundreds of thousands of daily users that ask and answer questions about everything under the sun; topics range from archaeology to zoology, including world history, aviation, U.S. and world politics, pop culture (including subcategories such as Star Wars, Star Trek, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter). and sex. 

The quality of the questions varies greatly as well, depending on various factors, such as age, education level, cultural awareness, and writing abilities. As such, one is bound to see queries that run all the way across the quality spectrum, from the Very Interesting to the Very Weird.

This one, by Quora member Mina Simard, is one that falls into the Weird end of the spectrum: 

What are the chances that we'll get Star Wars Episodes VII, VIII and IX with the original cast coming back to reprise their roles?

My reply:

Well, considering that Lucasfilm (and, in the case of the two films directed by J.J. Abrams, Bad Robot Productions) have already released two-thirds of the Sequel Trilogy and will release Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker in December, I’d say the chances are absolutely certain.

Seriously, unless you’ve been living on a desert island or have been asleep. Rip Van Winkle-like. since Lucasfilm released its last Star Wars movie as an independent production company (2008’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars) either you don’t follow pop culture or are woefully ill-informed.

Since George Lucas decided to retire from making big theatrical releases and sell Lucasfilm Ltd. (and all of its intellectual properties) to The Walt Disney Company in the fall of 2012, the company has made five new Star Wars films, four of which have been theatrically released since December 2015.

They are:

• Star Wars - Episode VII: The Force Awakens (December 2015)
• Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (December 2016)
• Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (December 2017)
• Solo: A Star Wars Story (May 2018)
• Star Wars - Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (TBR December 2019)

As for the original cast returning to reprise their roles, well, they have done that, too. Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and even Frank Oz have all made appearances as older versions of their iconic Original Trilogy characters, but in supporting roles rather than as the main characters.

If what you are really saying is “I don’t like the current Sequel Trilogy; will Lucasfilm reboot Episodes VII, VIII, and IX with the original cast from the Classic Trilogy?” the answer is No.

Why?

Well, let’s see. Harrison Ford’s character, Han Solo, was killed in The Force Awakens by new villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who in reality is Han and Leia’s troubled son, Ben Solo.

Carrie Fisher, who played Princess (now General) Leia Organa in both the Original and Sequel Trilogies, died in December 2016 after all of her scenes in The Last Jedi were completed. (Her mother, Debbie Reynolds, died a day after Carrie as a result of a massive stroke caused by grief.)

Kenny Baker, who had played R2-D2 in scenes where the robot had to exhibit human-like behavior in the previous six movies and served as an advisor to Jimmy Vee, the little person inside the current non-remote controlled R2, had died five months before Ms. Fisher.

Anthony Daniels, the slim British actor and mime artist who plays C-3PO in all of the Episodes (as well as the Radio Dramas and animated series), plus a cameo in Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, appears in the entire Sequel Trilogy. He thus becomes the only cast member from the Original Trilogy to reprise his role in the Skywalker Saga.

Mark Hamill, who plays Luke Skywalker in both the Original and Sequel Trilogies, only appeared at the very end of The Force Awakens because his character, a Jedi Master who chose self-exile on an oceanic planet named Ach-To, had a bigger role in The Last Jedi and will come back in The Rise of Skywalker.

Peter Mayhew, the gentle giant who played Chewbacca in the Original Trilogy and made brief appearances in Star Wars - Episode III: Revenge of the Sith and The Force Awakens, was in poor health over the last decade or so. He had already been replaced as the main actor inside the Wookiee costume by Joonas Suotamo as early as Episode VII, in which Mayhew only reprised his role in scenes where Chewie is seated. He died in May 2019 as a result of a heart attack. He was 74.

Billy Dee Williams, who played Lando Calrissian in The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi (and provided his voice to an animated version of his younger self in Star Wars Rebels) was not in the original story for Episode IX, which was intended to be Carrie Fisher’s swan song as Leia. But Fisher’s death led to the departure of IX’s original director, Colin Trevorrow, and forced J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio to scrap the existing script and start over. Fisher will be seen in The Rise of Skywalker (thanks to existing unused footage from The Force Awakens), but now Lando, who was not originally set to come back, will return in the final Episode of the Sequel Trilogy.

Frank Oz, the famous puppeteer-actor-director who plays Yoda, returned in The Last Jedi as a Force ghost of the Jedi Master who trained Luke Skywalker back in the 1980s.

So you see, the Sequel Trilogy has already been filmed, and the original cast members did return to reprise their roles. And due to contract stipulations on Ford’s part, compounded by the deaths of Fisher, Baker, and Mayhew, there is no chance for a rebooted Sequel Trilogy with those actors.