J.J. Abrams dropped what seemed to be a bombshell hint about Rey”s parents yesterday, but shortly thereafter he clarified his comments.
During an onstage discussion with the Star Wars: The Force Awakens director and Chris Rock at the Tribeca Film Festival, a young fan asked what we”ve all been debating for months: Who are Rey”s parents?
That fan probably wasn”t expecting a real answer from Abrams – but that fan got one. Maybe. Temporarily.
At first Abrams jokingly told the young fan to get out. Then he said, “Rey”s parents are not in Episode VII. So I can”t possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too.”
Not in Episode VII? That eliminates Luke, Leia, and Han as contenders for Rey”s parents.
Or perhaps not. After the Q&A, EW spoke with Abrams, asking him about his comment that had in short order caused a great disturbance in the fandom. He clarified, “What I meant was that [Rey] doesn”t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world.”
Maybe Abrams screwed up, said too much, and is backtracking. Or maybe he really just spoke unclearly and is clarifying what he said.
But if he meant that Luke, and anyone else who appears onscreen in Force Awakens, are not Rey”s parents, surely he”d know what kind of bombshell of a reveal that would be. This guy is aware of all the fan debate. Hmm.
Personally, I hope that Luke is not Rey”s dad. I want Rey to be great not because she”s born into a great family but because she achieves greatness – I want her to be special because of who she is, because of the qualities she possesses and the choices she makes, not because of who her father is. Episode VII gave us a badass, courageous, capable young woman who”s already shown that that she is someone who will make a lasting impact on this galaxy. We don”t need her to be Luke”s daughter to make her important enough to be the lead in this story.
That”s just my instinctive desire for this character – I know that many fans who long for her to be more directly a part of the Skywalker Family story feel differently. And I know it makes sense for Rey”s parents to have some kind of galactic stature if they left her on Jakku for her safety while they were in danger. Her dad just doesn”t need to be the all-important Luke Skywalker.
In any case, we can hope to find out more about Rey”s family when Star Wars: Episode VIII opens in theaters on December 15, 2017 and Episode VIII hits theaters in 2019.
[via THR]