Home Entertainment Star Wars: Daisy Ridley confirms Rey’s lineage kept changing, was supposed to be a Kenobi

Star Wars: Daisy Ridley confirms Rey’s lineage kept changing, was supposed to be a Kenobi

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And here we are again! In the run-up and wake of the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, a lot was written about the possible lineage of Daisy Ridley’s superpowered desert scavenger Rey. I should know, as I did a lot of the writing. Several theories popped up to try and explain why Rey had such a preternaturally strong connection to the Force. Some were great, others were laughably dumb, one made a lot of sense: Rey was actually the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi, the great Jedi Master who trained Anakin Skywalker and set Luke Skywalker on his heroic path. The Star Wars mythology even allowed for it, as we know there was a period in Obi-Wan’s life when he had a romantic interlude, shrouded in secrecy, with the Mandalorian Duchess Satine. If that’s not the kind of lineage you want for the brand new lightsaber-wielding heroine of your franchise, one in which Mandalorians are currently taking center stage, then I don’t know.

Of course, as things turned out, that wasn’t the lineage that Disney wanted. In Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, a plot twist reveal informed us that Rey had no special parentage at all. She was just a regular old nobody who happened to be strong in the Force. Except then Abrams came back for The Rise of Skywalker and suddenly Rey was actually the granddaughter of the evil Emperor Palpatine who was now also mysteriously back from the dead as part of a crossover promo with Fortnite or something. WHAT?!

So what the hell happened? Out of the these three options, what was the actual plan for Rey? All three, it seems, depending on who you asked and when. That’s what Ridley has now revealed while speaking to Josh Gad as he guest-hosted Jimmy Kimmel Live!

When asked about whether she had to keep the secret of Rey’s lineage from the start, Ridley explained that she never really knew for sure, but originally she was supposed to be a Kenobi.

At the beginning, there was toying with an Obi-Wan connection — there were different versions — then it really went to it was no one, and then it came to episode nine and J.J. [Abrams] pitched me the film and was like ‘Oh, yeah, Palpatine is granddaddy.’

Continuing on, Ridley explained that even while shooting of The Rise of Skywalker, Disney and Abrams were still going back and forth on their plans.

Then two weeks later he was like, ‘Oh, we’re not sure,’ So, it kept changing. So, then even as we were filming, I wasn’t sure what the answer was going to be.

Naturally, this has prompted a very strong response from fans with #ReyKenobi trending on social media. As several folks on Twitter posted, having Rey be revealed as a Kenobi in The Rise of Skywalker would have made so much sense in terms of the overall saga’s arcs and themes.

Personally, I’m still in favour of Johnson’s approach of making her a nobody, just for how it opened up the world of Star Wars to embrace more than just a tiny group of characters in a massive universe. Of course, Abrams and Disney even had the opportunity for a compromise at the end of The Rise of Skywalker when Rey is asked to give her last name. Having her respond with “It’s just Rey” would have been such a powerful statement of self-realization, not to mention tying into the threads that a new path needed to be taken for the Jedi. Instead, she declared herself a Skywalker and it took every ounce of my will power to hold myself in my cinema seat instead of launching up and screaming in frustrated anguish. Sigh.

Just to be clear, I don’t hate the new Star Wars trilogy at all. In fact, there’s quite a bit in all three movies that I genuinely enjoy (The Force Awakens being a ridiculously fun blast, The Last Jedi being a marvel of visuals and ideas, The Rise of Skywalker boasting some fantastic action). But there’s no denying that Disney dropped the ball overall when it came to realizing this new saga. Blame it on the lack of a properly thought out plan (which, admittedly, was the same for the previous trilogies), on overreaching with franchise saturation, on the untimely death of a key cast member, or just plain bumbling mismanagement, but it could have been better.

Luckily, this galaxy far, far away that I have loved for so long still has a lot more stories left to tell. And I will be there for all of them.

Last Updated: September 10, 2020

68 Comments

  1. It really just highlights what many were saying after the Last Jedi (and maybe, it’s also true for the Force Awakens), that Lucasarts didn’t have a roadmap. They were sucking their thumbs, before and after every single film and that incoherence is why Last Jedi was such a trash heap, and why Rise of Skywalker was such an open latrine.

    But I still think that what was done to John Boyega is the worst. His character was supposed to be a lot more prominent, and then that round-headed buffoon, Rian Johnson flipped the script. The worst part of it all, Kathleen Kennedy went along with it (probably because Rey was a self-insert for her. Rey was Kathleen Kennedy, and she was far too myopic to realise that the movies had to be more).

    Reply

    • Insomnia is fun

      September 10, 2020 at 14:04

      The force is female. Did you not see the t-shirt?

      Reply

      • Son of Banana Jim

        September 10, 2020 at 14:04

        I own a “the Force is shemale” t shirt. Got it through wish. Hahaha

        Reply

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 14:24

          I saw Ru Paul wearing one once and it cracked me up. He’s really got an eye for comedy.

          Reply

  2. Original Heretic

    September 10, 2020 at 13:43

    The prequel trilogies were mostly hated by the generation that grew up with the originals.
    These new ones are hated by both of those generations.
    Odds are, the kids who grow up with these new ones are gonna love them.

    Reply

    • Son of Banana Jim

      September 10, 2020 at 13:43

      Imagine being a kid who grows up with these three dreadful films and then think they’re the best thing ever…

      That thought is breaking my mind now, and I weep for future generations. 😛 https://media3.giphy.com/media/3o85xtxhptQYxlTt0k/giphy.gif

      Reply

      • Original Heretic

        September 10, 2020 at 13:43

        But that’s what kids are like.
        Give them cool action, awesome effects, and they end loving it.
        I remember the movies I watched as a kid. After watching them, I didn’t recite the lines or recount an awesome story beat. No, I was too busy re-enacting the fights, pretending I had those powers.

        Reply

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 13:54

          But, I wonder if kids were excited for these movies. The toys didn’t sell though, and that’s usually a great marker to gauge whether kids, young teens and even… cough.. some adults love a new movie.

          I remember during the pre-sequels if you walked into a Reggies or a Toys R Us, you couldn’t find Anakin anywhere. You couldn’t find any Star Wars toys. THey were always sold out. A friend of mine wanted to get specific action figure and we drove with him from Somerset Mall to N1 City to Tygervalley. I think he eventually told them to order it for him.

          Reply

          • Original Heretic

            September 10, 2020 at 13:54

            We’ll know in about 10 years time, when the new batch of Star Wars memes should start appearing.

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 16:24

            Or the next sequel trilogy comes from Netflix or Amazon (provided either of them will survive). I don’t think Disney is going to hold on to Star Wars though.

  3. Insomnia is fun

    September 10, 2020 at 13:43

    Honestly I think they just played it by ear. The entire trilogy. Read an article about how Finn got sidelined from swinging a light saber in the first movie to being relegated to the B story in the last two movies. They probably had an idea for him as well but yeah, there you go. Star Wars, it used to be special.

    Reply

    • Son of Banana Jim

      September 10, 2020 at 13:43

      I remember when I saw that in the first trailer and then news leaked that he was an ex-Stormtrooper, I was so excited to see the Force Awakens. Imagine, if they had gone with that, a former Stormtrooper who realises he’s force attuned, and thus becomes a Jedi…

      That in itself is a great concept for three movies. You’d have it all, the hero’s journey. Before he can truly wield the force, he has to come to terms with what he did as a drone or as a soldier. And then, when he forgives himself, he finds redemption….

      Sigh…

      Fucking DIsney….

      Reply

      • Insomnia is fun

        September 10, 2020 at 14:04

        But that assumes they have talented writers. Oh well, it’s not like they recently did something else that stupid like thanking a communist government responsible for concentration camps for their cooperation in the credits of a movie…….. oh wait….

        CAPITALISM KIDS! It’s more important than human rights. Remember that the next time you watch Ducktales.

        Reply

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 14:35

          Disney is done though. I don’t see them recovering from this. Their parks failing was just the beginning. Bad films and Covid have nailed them, and their eagerness to bend the knee to the Chinese will be the final nail in the coffin.

          By the way, I watched Mulan over the weekend (cough… cough… Jolly Roger), and it’s not a bad movie per se. It’s kind of like one of those old traditional Kung fu movies from the 80s, but with surprisingly worse fx. The girl who plays Mulan isn’t too bad in the role. Jet Li is fine as the emperor, even though he’s barely on screen, but it’s definitely not worth 30 dollahs!!!

          It’s basically a straight-to-DVD movie, or something that should end up on SABC 1 in the not too distant future.

          Reply

          • For the Emperor!

            September 11, 2020 at 07:15

            I was planning on watching Mulan in the cinema, but was at some family who had sailed the high seas and was “forced” to watch with them. Yeah, not bad, but not worth going to the cinema and buying popcorn and slush. Sad, as Mulan is one of my favourite animated Disney movies…They basically put the Force in Ancient China, with a “good witch” and a “bad witch” using “force/chi”

      • For the Emperor!

        September 11, 2020 at 07:13

        I was most looking forward to the Finn story arc, and then they blew it like that a set piece on a Michael Bay movie…

        Reply

  4. Alien Emperor Trevor

    September 10, 2020 at 13:54

    I was perfectly happy for her to not be related to anyone that had appeared on screen before, it was something I wanted before the first movie even came out.

    I see there’s been two Star Wars articles in two days trying to keep the “Star Wars fatigue” canard alive. That’s a rubbish excuse and has been from the start, I know it hurts but you’ll feel better if you just admit that they aren’t good movies. It doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy them, hell I enjoy Resident Evil & Underworld movies without pretending they’re good or making excuses for them.

    I’ve enjoyed watching the new trilogy of Star Wars: A New Hope: The Remake, National Lampoon’s Star Wars Vacation, and Star Wars: National Treasure, but Rogue One is the only recent Star Wars movie that’s actually a good movie. I’d even rate Solo higher than the new trilogy movies.

    Reply

    • Kervyn Cloete

      September 10, 2020 at 14:04

      I don’t subscribe to the Star Wars fatigue angle at all. If something is good, it’s good and I want more of it.

      Also, Solo is painfully underrated. I legit enjoyed it, despite a few really dumb moments.

      Reply

      • RinceThis

        September 10, 2020 at 14:04

        Yeah me too, I think it came out at the wrong time. Perhaps during a fatigue moment?

        Reply

        • Insomnia is fun

          September 10, 2020 at 14:24

          It came out after TLJ, which was the worst time of all.

          Reply

      • Alien Emperor Trevor

        September 10, 2020 at 14:24

        That’s what I’ve always said, you don’t get tired of good movies. It’s a particularly silly thing for people to say given a decade of multiple Marvel movies per year & all their related TV series.

        Reply

        • Original Heretic

          September 10, 2020 at 14:34

          Was gonna mention the Marvel thing, too.
          They’ve released WAY more movies than Star Wars, but they were all good and people (for the most part) enjoyed them.
          “Fatigue” just means that they released sub-par movies.

          Reply

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            To be fair, they may hit that wall during Phase 4… I know I sound like a broken record, but Phase 4 is what’s going to kill them.

          • Original Heretic

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            We’ll see.
            Cause I honestly believe that as long as they produce quality movies, they’ll keep making loads of money.

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 14:24

          Have to agree with you on that part, it’s only when a franchise continually pumps out trash that audiences start to vanish, just look at Terminator, the alien movies, predator, star trek etc. Etc. Star Wars is lucky in that even as audiences started to turn away, there was still a large enough following to keep it in the black. But, as Solo showed, not even Star Wars is immune to people turning away from bad films and rotten franchises.

          Reply

          • Alien Emperor Trevor

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            I think it depends on the expectations people have for the franchise whether or not they’ll keep coming back. Those ones you mentioned are good examples of people not coming back for poor movies, but then stuff like Transformers or Fast & Furious keep going strong & pulling in audiences because all people expect from them are CGI & stunts.

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 14:35

            Because as hard as it is for us to understand, the Fast and The Furious movies are ‘good’. They resonated with their target audience. They’re popular because whatever attracts people to those movies are in EVERY single movie, and it curls their toes.. The same is true for the Transformers movies (which as you know, I absolutely despise)

          • Chris Summers

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            If Predator is on TV (1 & 2 only!), it has to be rewatched immediately at my house.

            Two completely different Heroes with Arnie & Getting too old for this Sh!t Glover, yet both so awesome in their roles to me.

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 14:35

            I liked the one with Adrian Brody as well (predators), but I absolute love the campiness of Predator 2. It’s one of those movies, I love to rewatch.

          • Chris Summers

            September 10, 2020 at 15:29

            I think Predator 2 generally doesn’t get the love it deserves, or maybe it is simply overshadowed by the sheer amount of awesome (and manliness!) of the first one.

            Certainly not the fault of Danny Glover, I really enjoyed him in this movie and it was a nice change of pace from the original.

            Unlike Star Wars managed to do.

            It’s also amazing how well those special effect have held up, comparing Predator 1 against Predators for example

          • Insomnia is fun

            September 10, 2020 at 14:43

            Yes!

      • Insomnia is fun

        September 10, 2020 at 14:34

        Like showing how they did the kessel run.

        Reply

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 14:34

          Even though a parsec isn’t a measure of time but a measure of distance….

          #dropsMic
          #LeavesDisqus

          Reply

    • RinceThis

      September 10, 2020 at 14:04

      You are the WORST!

      Reply

    • Son of Banana Jim

      September 10, 2020 at 14:04

      They weren’t good movies, by any metric, except maybe financial. But, since I don’t own any Disney stocks, I’ll just repeat myself…. they’re terrible examples of modern cinema.

      The whole “star wars fatigue” argument has no merit. It’s a coping mechanism.

      Reply

    • Chris Summers

      September 10, 2020 at 14:24

      Recently re-watched the entire new trilogy, and my main issue is actually the characters. I can’t quite put my finger on it, I mean there’s nothing wrong with the acting, the choice of actors etc but they just seem….forgettable?

      They even ruined Leia who was all kinds of awesome in the original movies by dropping her kick-ass attitude.

      Reply

      • Insomnia is fun

        September 10, 2020 at 14:24

        They wanted to replace the old guard with the fresh new faces. Only they skipped character development class in film school.

        Reply

        • Chris Summers

          September 10, 2020 at 14:34

          Let me say it this way, when I, as a wee lad in the 80s watched the original movies I thought Han Solo was the most awesome thing I ever witnessed on TV. We acted out Han Solo fantasies at school and so on.

          Darth Vader was an unforgettable bad guy. Lando was suave as hell etc.

          None of the characters in the new trilogy evoke any feelings to me like that and even my kids were basically “meh” about them

          Reply

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            We all wanted to be Han Solo, because he was awesome. He wasn’t just some automaton delivering lame lines of dialogue.

          • Insomnia is fun

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            Like “love will save us” as the mini death star laser obliterates the only protection they have against the first order.

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 14:34

            Poor Rose Tico… she still didn’t get her man, Press F!

          • Insomnia is fun

            September 10, 2020 at 14:43

            She hardly got any screen time as well in the last one. Too busy studying

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 15:11

            Poor Tico, she paid for the cinematic sins of a certain round-headed buffoon. 🙁 JJ Abrams should have flipped the script and turn her into a major character, with her own lightsabre, a tight-fitting lycra suit, the best lines and a killer character arc where she becomes the last Skywalker.

            In other words, basically pull a rounded-headed buffoon on Rian.

          • Son of Banana Jim

            September 10, 2020 at 15:11

            Poor Tico, she paid for the cinematic sins of a certain round-headed buffoon. 🙁 JJ Abrams should have flipped the script and turn her into a major character, with her own lightsabre, a tight-fitting lycra suit, the best lines and a killer character arc where she becomes the last Skywalker.

            In other words, basically pull a rounded-headed buffoon on Rian.

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 14:34

          Right on the money – They weren’t thinking about creating interesting characters that could carry a movie, rather their focus was on creating a toy line that will appeal to girls and boys (and in the end appealed to no-one)

          Reply

      • Son of Banana Jim

        September 10, 2020 at 14:34

        They were bland, whatever made them interesting was either lost, forgotten or just discarded for cheap laughs. Take Finn as an example, he was a reluctant Stormtrooper, maybe even a coward, and that was turned into a joke in the The Last Jedi where he became a joke character because he was basically a janitor. Same thing with Rey, she became more and more unlikeable because you just couldn’t identify with her. She was just too perfect – when her humble upbringing should have grounded her character.

        Reply

    • For the Emperor!

      September 11, 2020 at 07:23

      For me, Rogue One was a good war/spy movie that just happened to be in the SW universe! It was GREAT!

      Reply

  5. MechMachine

    September 10, 2020 at 15:11

    Can someone give me a honest opinion, is this movie any good ? Rise of Skywalker.

    Reply

    • Son of Banana Jim

      September 10, 2020 at 15:11

      Which one? Force Awakens, Last Jedi or Rise of Skywalker?

      Force Awakens isn’t bad, although it’s basically a rehash of the very first Star Wars movie. As for the last two, they’re… not good… Last Jedi is the worst though, because it heavily influenced the third one to be a huge steaming pile. Think about it this way, no matter how hard, JJ tried, he couldn’t salvage the Rise of Skywalker because of the box Last Jedi put him in.

      Rian did him dirty, yo!

      Although…. JJ has never shown to be able to write a good ending to any of his work. The guy can start projects, he just can’t finish them.

      Reply

      • MechMachine

        September 10, 2020 at 15:11

        The third one. Yet to see it.

        Reply

        • Son of Banana Jim

          September 10, 2020 at 15:29

          Then my advice would be… avoid it. I came out of that movie a lot more angrier about Disney and Star Wars. There are better scifi out there, with more satisfying conclusions.

          On the other hand, you might enjoy it, and wonder why all these old gits are moaning about the movie, and whether they’re all just joyless husks who should rather be put against a wall and face a firing squad.

          The choice is yours Padawan 😛 https://media0.giphy.com/media/2u8vej0S5Mx7W/giphy.gif

          Reply

  6. Kenn Gibson

    September 10, 2020 at 15:43

    I still believe her being the re-incarnation of Jar Jar Binks would have tied the whole saga together…….

    Reply

  7. Syndiciate

    September 10, 2020 at 21:50

    I’m just glad to have confirmation that they didn’t PLAN something this bad.

    Reply

  8. CrAiGiSh

    September 11, 2020 at 08:54

    Just felt like lazy writing …

    Reply

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