Rey Taking the Skywalker Name Concept Dates Back to The Force Awakens

Fans first met Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens not knowing much about her past. The Last Jedi revealed that her parents were "nobodies" but it was revealed in The Rise of Skywalker that Emperor Palpatine was her grandfather. Upon the release of Episode IX, some fans thought that it was a movie that ought to negate the events of its predecessor. However, as it turns out, Rey taking the name "Skywalker" was already an idea years ago.

In the Art of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker book, it was revealed that the idea of Rey being a Skywalker was way back in 2014. "I like the idea that she's going to be our Skywalker, but she's not a Skywalker," Lucasfilm exec Pablo Hidalgo shares in the book, per a 2014 meeting. "Then, for our purposes, 'the Skywalker' is really a metaphor. It doesn't have to be something that's directly connected to blood."

Sure enough, the idea made it in the ninth installment of the Skywalker Saga. There were tons of fan theories about Rey's lineage and some would find it disappointing that she was related to Palpatine all this time despite her parents being called "nobodies" by Kylo Ren. This led other fans to speculate that J.J. Abrams' film was meant to retcon what happened in Rian Johnson's movie. Actor Greg Grunberg addressed the matter in a recent interview as well.

Grunberg says he was "pissed off" about an Episode IX criticism that says the film is just "pandering to fans." However, the actor thinks that a movie like that was meant to satisfy the fans and that Abrams had done it "in an emotional way as the characters are connected." Grunberg also said that the movie "would still hold up" despite having some scenes that shouldn't have been in the final cut. Nonetheless, he says everything in the film matters and everyone did an "incredible job" in wrapping up and "servicing all the characters."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available on Digital HD, Blu-Ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD.

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