J.J. Abrams broke the internet for an hour or so last night after answering a fan question at at Q&A during the Tribeca Film Festival about Rey's parents in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. "Rey’s parents are not in Episode VII," the filmmaker told the fan who asked outright for their identity. "So I can’t possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too."
There go all those theories about her being the daughter of Han and Leia or Luke then, right? Not exactly. Abrams was quick to point out to Entertainment Weekly that what he actually meant was that, "she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world."
That makes sense, and for now, this is a mystery we have to wait until next year to find out more about.
Meanwhile, another interview (via IGN) saw the director shed some light on the ending of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and why Mark Hamill was initially reluctant to sign up for such a minor role.
"We knew that getting to Luke was the whole story, and I was desperate to do the next chunk that we knew would not fit into this one movie. But, we knew that we had that ending, but it was a frightening and tricky thing to do, but at first and in all honesty, Mark Hamill was a little resistant. Imagine reading Star Wars, imagine being Mark Hamill and you get the script for the new Star Wars. 'Oh the opening is good, page two, oh, three and so on - what the f**k is the going on, I’m three pages before the end, the last page, what?' He was so kind to do it, and at first he was like, 'Will it seem silly, will it be a joke that he is standing there?' I said to him, ‘I don’t think it will.’ I said because the whole movie is about that, it could be a great fun drum roll, up to seeing this guy. Hamill was the exact same age as Alec Guinness was when he played Obi-Wan. I’m looking at him in the robes, and with the John Williams music, I start to tear up, and I know that this ending could really work."
Luke Skywalker is of course expected to have a major role in Episode VIII, and with Han now gone, the character will have plenty of opportunities to shine there! Still, were you disappointed to see so little of Luke in Abrams' movie? As always, be sure to let us know your thoughts in the usual place.