STAR WARS directors JJ Abrams & Colin Trevorrow tease Rey's parentage

SPOILER WARNING IF YOU’RE ONE OF THE 12 PEOPLE LEFT ON THE PLANET WHO STILL HASN’T SEEN STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS!

Going into Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the question on most fans’ lips was “What happened to Luke Skywalker?”. Walking out of the movie though, it was more than likely”Exactly who is Rey really?”. Probably followed closely by “Why can’t Poe Dameron be my space boyfriend?!”. Okay, maybe that last one was just Tracy. But the Rey one was definitely a big issue.

There are some who viewed the lack of answers about Rey’s hidden past and her mysteriously amazing talent with the Force to be a plot hole. Which is a bit laughable as the movie is clearly setting it up as a mystery to be revealed in the rest of the trilogy. Specifically, the answers will probably be given out in Episode VIII, the still unnamed very next installment in the main saga which is to be written/directed by Rian Johnson (Looper).

At least that’s according to The Force Awakens director JJ Abrams, as he revealed what he knows about what’s coming, during the Television Critics Association tour (via Collider):

“I know quite a bit, but obviously, it’s not for me to talk about in this moment because this is Rian [Johnson]’s story now and the last thing I want to do is reveal something he’ll get upset about.”

Yes, not the most groundbreaking revelation, but it does tell us that Rey’s story is probably not going to get dragged out all the way to 2019’s Episode IX, which is definitely a good thing. While Johnson will also be penning the script for Episode IX, it’s Colin Trevorrow (Jurassic World) who will be directing the movie, and he too is in the loop as he revealed to ET that he and Johnson are working closely together on what’s to come.

A story must evolve or perish, and Rian and I are working closely together to make sure our stories build off of each other and continue to evolve and take us to new places, and I think that’s what the fans expect and what they want.

And the fans also expect to find out if all their crazy theories on Rey’s heritage – Is she Luke Skywalker’s daughter? Obi-Wan’s granddaughter? Both? A reincarnated Jar-Jar Binks? – actually have any truth in them. Well, Trevorrow told ET that not only are those answers coming, but they will be “deeply and profoundly satisfying”:

“I’ve seen all of the theories. I have to practice how to answer these questions.”

“We’re going to make sure that that answer is deeply and profoundly satisfying. Rey is a character that is important in this universe, not just in the context of The Force Awakens, but in the entire galaxy. She deserves it. We’ll make sure that that answer is something that feels like it was something that happened a long time ago, far away, and we’re just telling you what happened.”

Trevorrow wouldn’t really delve much deeper than that, but he sorta kinda implied that Rey’s father is not a new character but somebody we already know. Maybe. Possibly.

“What’s interesting is I’m not creating a host of new characters. I have a lot of characters that people really love that we’re going to make sure are all honored. No one’s going to be left behind.”

And those characters of course include Luke and Leia, the only remaining leads (*sniff* Han *sniff) from the original trilogy, whom Trevorrow has some big plans for.

“[I can’t wait] to find new places that we can take those characters. They are icons, but they’re also people that have suffered tremendous loss and challenge over the course of all these films.”

“By the time we get to Episode IX, I look at that movie as one movie, as three movies, as six movies, and as nine movies. It’s something that needs to honor a story that has been told over a period of 40 years… Star Wars is a belief system, it’s not just a story and it’s not just a movie, and it’s something I take very seriously…”

“I don’t want to ignore any of it, and I respect all of it. It’s something I think the fan base is going to embrace.”

Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII is out on May 26, 2017, while Trevorrow’s Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled for May 24, 2019.

Last Updated: January 14, 2016