When last we left Captain Phasma in Star Wars: The Force Awakens she (SPOILER ALERT FOR LITERALLY THE BIGGEST MOVIE OF ALL TIME) was captured by Finn, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. She helped them lower the Starkiller Base shields and then, in a nod to the original Star Wars, our heroes teased tossing her down the garbage shoot.

Not exactly a noble farewell for a character who was eagerly anticipated all through the run-up to The Force Awakens, in large part because Gwendoline Christie of Game of Thrones was playing this character, but also because finally there was a female Stormtrooper and she looked like a total badass. In practice, Phasma didn’t quite live up to the hype. Sure, her costume design was fantastic. But she barely played a role in the film (and when she did, she was mostly just giving the heroes exactly what they wanted at the drop of a chrome-plated helmet).

It wasn’t clear from the end of The Force Awakens whether Phasma made it off the Starkiller Base before the Resistance starkilled it, but apparently she did; in an interview at the SAG Awards, Christie told People that Phasma’s story is not over:

I will be in the next Star Wars movie. I think that’s an exclusive, actually.

This is great news for Phasma fans (they’re called “phans”). There’s no question Phasma has a ton of potential (not to mention that costume, which Christie herself called “incredibly striking”). But most of it remained untapped in The Force Awakens. Hopefully writer/director Rian Johnson finds a juicy subplot for Phasma to call her own. She could be an interesting foil for Kylo Ren and General Hux, or Rey for that matter.

Star Wars: The Phasma Strikes Back (title not final) opens in theaters on December 15, 2017.

More From Classic Rock Q107