Kylo Ren may have called Rey a nobody in The Last Jedi, but Lucasfilm certainly doesn’t see the character that way. According to a new report, Daisy Ridley’s lightsaber-wielding protagonist is at the heart of many future projects in the Star Wars franchise. Introduced in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey became the new lead character of the franchise as well as its only surviving Skywalker when she adopted the name at the end of 2019’s The Rise of Skywalker. While that might have been the end of the Skywalker Saga, Lucasfilm was not done with the character, as there have been active plans to develop a Rey-led spin-off film directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
In a new report, The Hollywood Reporter revealed that Lucasfilm seemingly has big plans for Rey. Simon Kinberg’s recently announced Star Wars trilogy would seemingly have Rey in it in some fashion, which is why early reports indicated that the trilogy would comprise Episodes X, XI, and XII. Regardless, Kinberg’s trilogy seems to be in conflict with Obaid-Chiony’s Rey film, which recently lost its screenwriter. While the two projects are competing with one another, one insider close to the Star Wars franchise told THR that Rey is “the most valuable cinematic asset, in some ways maybe the only one, Star Wars has right now.”
While Star Wars is filled with several of the most significant characters in cinema history, Lucasfilm is limited in what it can do with some of them. Characters like Luke Skywalker and Leia Organa could have new stories told about them, but Lucasfilm is hesitant to recast iconic characters following the box office flop of Solo: A Star Wars Story. Darth Vader’s voice actor, James Earl Jones, just passed away, and there is likely concern a whole movie could be made with the A.I. technology used to mimic Jones’s voice in Obi-Wan Kenobi. Chewbacca, R2D2, C-3PO, and Yoda likely cannot support a whole feature film. In terms of legacy characters, this leaves those from the sequel trilogy, specifically Rey, as the most valuable.
The Future of Star Wars Is in Rey’s Hands
The idea of Rey being a vital character in the Star Wars franchise indeed sinks the narrative that a specific subset of the Star Wars fandom has tried to sell, that nobody likes the sequel trilogy of films, specifically Rey, who often gets labeled as a “Mary Sue.” Given the sequel trilogy’s popularity at the box office, many young children undoubtedly saw those films. Rey was the center of that trilogy, and, to an entire generation, their entry into Star Wars. Just like how Ewan McGregor and Hayden Christensen’s return to the Star Wars franchise was met with open arms despite the mixed reaction to the prequel trilogy at the time of its release, the same will likely happen for Rey and the rest of the sequel trilogy.
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However, placing so much emphasis on Rey highlights one issue with Star Wars as of late: the franchise needs to work on cultivating new fan-favorite characters. The Mandalorian and Grogu, two characters that have also become the new face of Star Wars thanks to their popular Disney+ series (and their ability to sell countless pieces of merchandise in stores and across Disney theme parks), will get their chance to prove themselves at the box office with The Mandalorian & Grogu in May 2026. Lucasfilm has plenty of great characters from the sequel trilogy that could support their own films, including Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), and Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), to name a few. While it would be great to get more Rey adventures, Lucasfilm also needs to invest in creating new fan-favorite characters in new films, like Simon Kinberg’s trilogy, Patty Jenkins’ Rogue Squadron, and Shawn Levy’s planned film. No matter how much we love the classic characters, Star Wars can and should be about more than just one person.