J.J. Abrams wrote 'Star Wars Episode IX' scenes around Carrie Fisher's existing footage from 'The Force Awakens'

Fans will get their first look at the hotly anticipated Star Wars: Episode IX at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago, but before revealing the title and trailer of the final film in the Skywalker Saga, director J.J. Abrams sat down in a panel with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy and superfan Stephen Colbert to talk about all things Star Wars.

In the panel, Abrams naturally discussed the loss of Carrie Fisher, who will appear posthumously as General Leia Organa in the new movie.

When Colbert asked how Abrams approached "filling the void left by Carrie Fisher," Abrams replied that he couldn't.

"She was the best. She was glorious. She was amazing," he continued. "It was impossible, there was no way. What are you gonna do?...The weird miracle of having had a number of scenes from The Force Awakens that had gone unused, looking at those scenes and starting to understand that there was actually a way to use those scenes to continue her story so it would be her."

He added that recreating Fisher with CG was never an option for him, and instead opted to write new scenes from Episode IX around the existing Force Awakens footage to keep the real Carrie in the movie.

"The craziest part is how not crazy it feels. She's there in these scenes."