Felicity Jones Thinks Her Dead 'Star Wars' Character Should Be Reincarnated

In an era in which Disney was latching on to recognizable icons in Star Wars mythos to retain a sense of familiarity for audiences, one of the company's biggest creative risks was making Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, a film which – spoiler alert – kills off every major protagonist by the time the end credits roll.

But in a new interview, Felicity Jones, who played Rebel leader Jyn Erso in the 2016 film, says she wants Jyn to be reincarnated because her character has "unfinished business."

Jones spoke with The Hollywood Reporter for an interview, and I'm not sure if the reporter got up to get a snack or use the bathroom during a key moment during Rogue One's climax, but here's how one section of the interview went down:

THR: The fate of your character Jyn Erso is unclear at the end of Rogue One. Have there been any talks about a sequel?

Jones: I just keep saying that reincarnation is totally possible in the Star Wars universe [laughs]. So, I feel there's unfinished business for Jyn, for sure.

THR: I hear that Disney has an option for you to do a second film that it keeps extending. How would you like to see Jyn return — a sequel, spinoff or something else?

Jones: I think it would be fascinating to see her getting older and wiser and fighting the dark forces in the universe with which there are many it seems.

Before we go any further, I need to make sure we're all on the same page about something. Jyn Erso is super dead, right? I mean, I know there's a scene in the movie depicting a massive blast radius which overtakes Jyn and Cassian Andor, who tragically embrace while the music swells. But there aren't any conspiracy theories out there suggesting that those characters are somehow actually alive, are there? Because...I mean, come on, people. Just because you didn't see their skin melt off their faces like Sarah Connor's nightmare in Terminator 2 doesn't mean that they inexplicably survived.

Jones's use of the word reincarnation seems to indicate that at least she knows that her character died, but then the second answer – about Jyn getting older – calls that into question. Is she hoping that a reincarnated version of Jyn is the one who grows older? And if she's serious, does she think that she would play that reincarnated version of the character? Admittedly, I am not an expert in reincarnation, but I don't think it involves a soul coming back into a carbon copy of the same body it inhabited during its previous life cycle. It's worth noting that there is some precedent for the idea of reincarnation in the Star Wars universe, although it's almost entirely relegated to the "Legends" stories which no longer fall into Disney's accepted canon.

This is just an incredibly odd exchange all around, from the interviewer's questionable interpretation of the movie's climactic scene to Jones's bizarre answer. It should be clear that if Jones is indeed contractually obligated to appear as Jyn again, she'll appear in a story which falls at a point on the timeline before her character's death. But then again, I didn't think it was possible for the damn Emperor to have survived long enough to appear in The Rise of Skywalker, so sure – bring on zombie Jyn!