Star Wars Episode IX: Duel Of The Fates - 10 Things We Learned From Colin Trevorrow's Leaked Script
3. Rey ISN'T A Palpatine
Lucasfilm
If anything really exemplifies just how uninspiring The Rise of Skywalker was, then it has to be what the film does to Rey's character. The fact the character was a nobody in The Last Jedi was inspiring in that it showed how anyone could be a hero; you didn't have to be the descendant of some grand lineage to make a difference.
The Rise of Skywalker did, of course, opt for a different path. Rey is revealed to be the granddaughter of Emperor Palpatine and then she takes a new name at the end by calling herself a Skywalker. Neither moment is particularly gratifying and the shameless back-pedalling from Episode VIII is frankly embarrassing.
Fortunately (or unfortunately, given it didn't get made...), Duel of the Fates retained Rey's past as a nobody. She's Rey - just Rey, and the only real change Trevorrow makes is that he reveals Kylo Ren killed her parents at the behest of Snoke.
WhatCulture's very own resident movie guy, Ewan has been working in the content creation biz for over 10 years now, having started as a freelance contributor to WhatCulture Gaming all the way back in 2015. After graduating with a First-Class Honours in History from Northumbria University in 2017 (where he won a prize for a totally killer dissertation on the Watergate years), Ewan took on the role of Comics Editor at WhatCulture and quickly developed WhatCulture Comics into one of the biggest superhero-focused channels on YouTube. He followed this with a brief hiatus at Screen Rant in 2021, where he worked across the Gaming and Film sections as a writer and editor, before returning to WhatCulture as a Senior Content Producer / Presenter in 2023. He started his own podcast, We Love Dad Movies, in 2022, and has contributed several written pieces to the Eisner-nominated comics website Shelfdust as well.
In his current role, Ewan incorporates his love of cinema, comic books, and history into written pieces and video essays for WhatCulture's Film & TV channel, as well as WhatCulture Gaming and WhatCulture Horror, with a particular focus on nineties-era Dad Movies, old school Westerns, and Golden Age Hollywood Noir. John Carpenter is his fave, and he thinks Batman Beyond should never have been cancelled. If that's your vibe, you'll probably like his stuff.
