Carrie Fisher

From Mark Hamill to Harrison Ford, to the stars of 'The Force Awakens' and 'Rogue One,' Carrie Fisher's extended 'Star Wars' family react to her passing.

Today we mourn the loss of Carrie Fisher: Iconic actor, talented author, brilliant script doctor and, most of all, an incomparable force to be reckoned with. There are so many great adjectives you could use to describe Fisher: Uncompromising, unapologetic, fierce, witty, relatable, real, honest. She took all of those qualities and put them to work in her books — from memoirs to novels, Fisher had a knack for telling poignant and painful stories with wit and wisdom. Writing a worthy obituary for one of the best and boldest women on this planet or any other is surely an impossible task…so it’s a good thing that the perfect obit basically already exists, and unsurprisingly, Fisher came up with it herself.

Terrible news to confirm today, as a beloved icon and Star Wars star’s condition has taken a turn for the worse. Carrie Fisher, actress behind both Princess and General Leia, has passed away at age 60. The revered actress and comedic presence had earlier suffered a heart attack en-route from London to Los Angeles.

Any Star Wars fan knows that nobody speaks as bluntly about the franchise as Carrie Fisher. While Harrison Ford and Mark Hamill might be counted on for the occasional funny soundbite or bit of interesting backstory, if you really want one of the Star Wars actors to lay their chips on the table, it’s Carrie Fisher you need to listen to. The actress and writer possesses one of the most acerbic wits in all of Hollywood and has never shied away from trying to spin her sense of humor into backdoor Star Wars cannon.

Not too long ago, there was a rumor going around that Rian Johnson had a secret production codename for Star Wars: Episode VIII — a totally believable rumor, given that most major films shoot under secret titles and the practice is fairly common. Episode VIII’s codename is secret no more, as Carrie Fisher (and her insanely adorable dog, Gary Fisher) has revealed the sequel’s production title, and, like most codenames, it’s one you never would have guessed.

When you’re out promoting a movie, you’re often asked to do a lot of things, most of them pretty silly. With the amount of press the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens was being asked to do, there were asked to do a lot of silly things, none perhaps as silly as going on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and singing a medley of Star Wars music a cappella. But the entire cast — including Harrison Ford! — actually commits, and it actually turns out to pretty fun.

The original Star Wars was driven by nostalgia for pulp magazines, Saturday-morning serials, and a simpler era with clear-cut heroes and villains. The new Star Wars is driven by nostalgia for the original Star Wars, and a simpler era when that title evoked words like “adventure” and “excitement,” and not words like “the taxation of trade routes,” and “Jar Jar Binks.” The characters in Star Wars: The Force Awakens are all searching for something of great importance to the galaxy far, far away. I won’t reveal what this MacGuffin is, but I will tell you what it represents: that old Star Wars magic. Can director J.J. Abrams and the rest of the saga’s new creators find it?

See Lupita Nyong'o, Zendaya, Sarah Hyland and some stars in costume on the red carpet.

The most anticipated movie of 2015 has to be Star Wars The Force Awakens. Which is probably no surprise because Star Wars is probably the most popular franchise in movie history. As for myself I have never been too interested in Star Wars but I even have an interest because the antagonist looks bad ass.