Star Wars: The Force Awakens - A major character was originally planned to die before Episode 8 but didn't

'Never mind. I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now'

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (Lucasfilm 2015)

Before reading on, know that there are spoilers for Star Wars: The Force Awakens ahead!

Still here? Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron may not have had much screen time in latest Star Wars film, but he has quickly become a fan favourite, with many hoping to see a lot more of the character in Episode VIII.

However, the pilot wasn’t originally going to make it through the entire film, with JJ Abrams initially wanting to kill off Poe towards the beginning.

Isaac told GQ their initial conversation about the film went something like this:

“He’s amazing!” said Abrams.

“Sounds good!” thought Isaac, whose first experience in a movie theatre 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.

Although initially being disappointed, the 36-year-old agreed to be in the film anyway, yet to his surprise discovered his role had been increased drastically.

“I went back home, and I thought about it. Then I wrote [J.J. Abrams] 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.

"[But Abrams wrote back,] ‘Never mind. I’ve figured it out. You’re in the whole movie now.’

"I was like, ‘Holy sh*t! Alright, cool.’”

Luckily, Poe was around for the crucial third act in which he played a major role, and we got to enjoy a little more Fin/Poe bromance, and hopefully a lot more in the sequel which starts filming in January.

In other Star Wars news, there have been multiple fan theories surround villain Kylo Ren, and how much Harrison Ford got paid to return to the series has been revealed.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens is in cinemas.