Yet, film’s power to inspire, rally, and comfort those who search for larger-than-life heroes to also lift them up and carry them forward found just the right figurehead in Princess Leia, Carrie Fisher’s defiant rebel royalty turned general from the Star Wars franchise.
Mark Hamill tweeted his own thanks to those who honoured the character: “I know where she stood.
Fisher’s Leia cropped up in marches all across the globe, with a common poster design – originally by artist Hayley Gilmore – portraying the character alongside the slogan, “A Woman’s Place is in the Resistance”.
Others dressed as Leia, or created their own signs in tribute to Fisher’s legacy.