New Star Wars: The Force Awakens Character Was Originally Killed Off

It looks as though ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ originally killed off one of its new main characters… as the actor himself reveals the plans for his demise.

During an interview with GQ Magazine, ‘Star Wars’ star Oscar Isaac revealed that ace pilot Poe Dameron was originally offed during the first half of ‘The Force Awakens’.

“Isaac says he had been summoned to Paris for what he suspected might be a role in The Force Awakens,” they revealed. “Sure enough, earlier that day, he had met with Abrams, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, and Abrams had pitched him the character of Poe Dameron, a badass fighter pilot battling against the remnants of the Empire.”

**Spoiler Warning – don’t read on if you’re avoiding Star Wars spoilers**

- Star Wars 7 Theatrical Poster Revealed
- Sneak Peek of Star Wars 7’s Full Trailer
- Star Wars: Rogue One Script Re-Written?

‘“He’s amazing!” said Abrams. “Sounds good!” thought Isaac, whose first experience in a movie theater had been seeing The Empire Strikes Back. “He opens the whole movie!” said Abrams. “Sounds great!” thought Isaac. “And then,” Abrams went on. “He dies.” “Oh,” thought Isaac.’

According to Isaac, the greatest fighter pilot in the entire Resistance was going to set up the plot for the rest of the cast before dying a spectacular death… but thankfully, director J.J. Abrams had second thoughts.

“I went back home [to New York], and I thought about it,” he said. “Then I wrote him and said, ‘Okay. I’ll do it!’ I figured it would be a cameo: I’ll come in, do my thing, and maybe it’s actually better not to have to sign myself up for three movies.”

“Never mind,” responded Abrams. “I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now.”

Of course, looking back on ‘The Force Awakens’ it becomes painfully clear how Poe Dameron was originally supposed to die. After all, Finn assumes that he’s bitten the dust during their TIE Fighter crash on Jakku.

And perhaps it would have felt a bit more natural if Poe Dameron hadn’t miraculously returned in his X-Wing.

That said, it was clear from the opening moments that ‘Star Wars 7’ was onto a winner with Poe Dameron… who clearly shows signs of the old Han Solo charm and swagger. And with Oscar Isaac hinting that he’ll return in ‘Star Wars 8’ it seems that the Resistance has a rather awesome new addition.

And it’ll be interesting to see exactly how Poe and Finn’s friendship grows.

Could they be the new Han and Luke? For now, we’ll have to wait and see. But we’re certainly glad that Abrams decided to keep the Resistance’s best pilot alive.

‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ debuted in cinemas on 17 December 2015.

- Why Was Luke Missing From Star Wars 7 Poster?
- Lucasfilm Wants A Female Star Wars Director
- Star Wars Boba Fett Spin-Off May Star Michael B. Jordan

Picture Credit: Lucasfilm.