"Star Wars" fans were quite shocked or disappointed at the revelations of Rey's (Daisy Ridley) parentage since they were revealed to be "nobodies" by none other than antagonist Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) in "Star Wars Episode VIII: The Last Jedi."
In response to this, director Rian Johnson explains to Hollywood Reporter why he came to such a decision instead of making Rey the daughter of a significant figure in the saga. The 44-year-old showrunner has stated that Rey's existence was supposed to be driven by the future and not the past, where dwelling on the latter notion could eventually make her become like Kylo.
"It was hinted at in [Episode] VII when Maz (Lupita Nyong'o) says the answers lay ahead, not behind, but it was something that was obviously still on Rey's mind and the audience's mind. It felt like a powerful thing that she was still holding onto this notion of the past defining her. And I guess I was entirely looking at it from a perspective of...what would be the thing that would be the most difficult for her to hear?" claimed Johnson.
While this makes Rey's existence in the franchise subjectively a lot more meaningful and less shackled by determinism, some fans were still left with the burning question of how she relates into the franchise's big characters. Still, Johnson argued that this would be quite easy and perhaps even clichéd for a protagonist, where having a well-established parentage and past would be too unchallenging for a character.
Instead, Johnson's opinion on what makes Rey an interesting character is that her identity and role in the galaxy was not handed to her and that she had to stand on her own two feet. This makes Rey's character relatively a nobody who has risen up to take the challenge of finding what her worth in the galaxy. Still, this can be quite a hard pill to swallow for some "Star Wars" fans, but they need not worry as Rey's ambiguous parentage could still change in the final movie, "Episode IX."
