It’s the biggest mystery in a galaxy far, far away.
Well, apart from the eternal question of whether Snoke is animal, mineral or an ancient parasitic, body-jumping alien with a flair for natty accessories.
Rey’s parentage has been the central focus of fan theories for two years, although Daisy Ridley, herself, confessed that she thought it was pretty obvious.
The smart money has always been on Luke Skywalker, but Rian Johnson has been making frequent efforts to play down this angle. In fact, he completely rebooted the whole question in a remarkably candid new interview.
Talking to the New York Times he emphasised the importance of the two characters but categorically not from a family angle.
He said: “The heart of the movie is Luke and Rey. It follows all the other characters, but its real essence is the development of the two of them. And it’s absolutely tied up in that question of, ‘What is Luke’s attitude toward the Jedi?'”
Even more bluntly, he revealed that the discovery of Rey’s father will have no impact on the story.
Johnson said: “Take the question of who Rey’s parents are: If you get the information — ‘Oh, it’s that!’ — who really cares? I know a lot of people care, but it’s interesting as opposed to impactful.
“Now, what is my place in the world? Where do I come from? Where do I belong? O.K., I understand what the weight of that is. We could play with those questions and their answers to have the biggest emotional impact on these characters.”
He must be incredibly naive if he could think that revealing Luke is Rey’s father will have no impact of the story or the audience.
It would surely rate as a lot more than just a mild “interesting”?
This seems to be a rather coded, but clear message that Rey’s parents will not be well-known characters. Any of the popular ancestral options from Obi-Wan Kenobi to Qui-Gon Jinn and Palpatine would all surely be considered “impactful.”
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