6 Star Wars Myths Started By The Actors

One of the most divisive and hotly debated mysteries of the sequel trilogy was the parentage of Rey (Daisy Ridley), with many fans believing that the series was building towards the reveal that Rey was Luke Skywalker's (Mark Hamill) daughter.

Many were left flummoxed, then, when The Last Jedi had Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) claim that her parents were actually nothing more than random junkers.

The fan backlash prompted J.J. Abrams to basically retcon this in The Rise of Skywalker, revealing that Rey was actually Palpatine's granddaughter, which was itself massively controversial.

But back in 2018 Simon Pegg, who appeared in The Force Awakens as Jakku trader Unkar Plutt, stated that J.J. Abrams had a totally different original plan for Rey:

"I know what J.J. intended or at least [the idea of] what was being chucked around. I think that's been undone slightly by [The Last Jedi]... There was some talk about a kind of 'relevant lineage' for her."

Now, it is possible that Abrams had always been planning to reveal Rey as Palpatine's granddaughter, but given how much of a reactionary ass-pull to The Last Jedi the threequel clearly was, it's much easier to believe Rey was originally going to be related to a heroic character - either Luke or Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Leia.

More to the point, when Pegg mentions Rey's lineage as "relevant," it's impossible to conceive that he's referring to Palpatine. After all, what could be more relevant than Rey being descended from Luke, the Jedi whose story her own mirrors in many key ways?