Everything about “Last Jedi” was great — except for Captain Phasma

Upfront, please know that I really enjoyed Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and I think it was a pretty solid, decent movie. Maybe you disagree with this statement, and that’s cool. To each their own Star Wars opinion. So while we might differ on just how amazing (or not amazing) this latest installment was, I think we can both agree on one thing: Captain Phasma never received the recognition she deserved, as a villain, and let alone a character.

Obviously, there are spoilers ahead, but I’m going to assume you’ve seen the movie at least once, seeing as how it’s already netted $220+ million dollars. You’ve probably seen it twice.

And since you’ve seen it, you know that Captain Phasma is in it for maaaaaaaybe, like, seven minutes? That’s maybe even too generous. She shows up at the very end of the second act of the film, right after Finn and Rose have been captured on the First Order ship. She orders these two executed, and Finn and Rose are staring down death until Vice Admiral Badass Holdo flies the Resistance ship into the First Order one while also jumping to lightspeed.

But, we’re not here to talk about how Holdo is a LEGEND. We’re here to talk about the fact that everything about Captain Phasma was a major disappointment.

The character was first introduced in Force Awakens as a contemporary of Kylo Ren, and also Finn’s boss. She very quickly established herself as a powerful captain, and though we couldn’t see Gwendoline Christie under the chrome armor, we knew she was there, and just thinking about that was quite epic. Phasma appeared in the beginning of Force Awakens, and then she popped up again at the very end, only to be thrown in a garbage chute off-screen.

We were told she survived. We were also told — heck, promised — that she would be back for Last Jedi, and that her role would be even greater. Just wait for more Phasma, they said. She’s coming back with a vengeance, they said.

While she came back with a vengeance, yes, she also barely came back. Phasma shows up for like maaaaaaaaaybe five minutes (yes, we’ve docked two minutes from our previous guess). She orders Finn and Rose executed. When everything goes to shit on the ship, she and Finn battle it out, mano a mano or FN-2187 to Captain. It’s a pretty great battle, all like two minutes of it. Finn delivers a heavy blow to the Phasma, tearing off the smallest piece of her helmet, so we can see Christie’s eye. And then, since the ship is slowly falling apart, Phasma falls into an explosion below, and presumably dies.

That’s it. That’s the end of Phasma.

While Phasma by no means needed her own B-plot in the movie, she at least needed something else to do. By the time her death rolls around, we’re still no further clued into the character, and what she even does all day for the First Order other than march around, guns at the ready.

It’s also such a shame, because Phasma was billed as the first female Star Wars villain, but she barely even got to hold onto the villain mantle. Yes, she did some bad things and almost killed Finn. Hux feels more like a true villain, and we all know he’s just some pawn in the greater scheme of things. Star Wars really missed an opportunity to do something new and exciting with a bad guy gal — played by actual warrior Gwendoline Christie — and instead, they just dropped her into the flames and that was it. Rude.

Also, totally unnecessary. There was literally no reason for Phasma to die, and now Finn doesn’t have any sort of enemy out there. At least keeping her around would have given Finn a nice foil, and another epic battle to look forward to. But, not so much.

Goodbye, Phasma. You’re gone, but your shiny metal armor won’t be forgotten.