Could Natalie Portman's Padme Amidala character play a role in Star Wars: Episode IX? Here's what she has to say

Natalie Portman has weighed in on her returning to the galaxy far, far away with "Star Wars: Episode IX", saying she is yet to get the news if her character Padme Amidala will be back for the upcoming installment.

Fans of the cult sci-fi franchise are speculating that Portman's prequel character, which appeared in "Star Wars: Episode I  The Phantom Menace" and "Star Wars: Episode III Revenge of the Sith", could feature in the new film.

"Oh really? I don't know anything about that. I'm guessing that's not true because I don't know about it yet," Portman told Buzzfeed News.

The sequel series -- Episode VII and onward starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and Adam Driver and others -- has thus far been clear in its treatment of the original series -- Episode IV to VI -- as canon over the prequel series. While this may make sense because of the timeline factor, it may also have a little to do with The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith not being received very well by die-hard Star Wars fans. 

However, since the release of The Force Awakens, Harrison Ford's character Han Solo, as well as Mark Hamill's character Luke Skywalker, have been killed off, meaning that if the filmmakers want to explore an aspect from the past, they're best off looking at someone from earlier on such as Natalie Portman's character. 

Of course, there is also the small matter of Padme Amidala having died in the series, at the end of Revenge of the Sith, so it is unknown how they will weave her in, if at all. The other character who people thought may be a part of the current line-up, though not in the same form as before, is Jar Jar Binks -- the Gungan 'klutz' who was the comic relief in The Phantom Menace but received a vehemently negative backlash. It was never revealed what happened to Jar Jar Binks, though there was speculation that he may be Supreme Leader Snoke, the character who appeared to be the main villain in the sequel series. However, whether or not Jar Jar is alive, Snoke is now dead. 

"Episode IX" will be released in cinemas on December 20, 2019.

(With PTI inputs)