I loved Daisy Ridley as Rey in the most recent Star Wars trilogy. That said, what started off as excitement and enthusiasm for the trilogy itself turned into disappointment (and maybe even a touch of anger at some decisions made) by the end.
Let’s be honest: the Star Wars films have, as a whole, been rather hit-or-miss. There have certainly been some stand-out films in the series. But then there have been some films that were…well…we don’t mourn to see them at the bottom of the discount bin. If they can even be found at all anymore.
And while we’ll admit that Star Wars: The Force Awakens had its flaws (and felt in many ways like a retelling of Star Wars: A New Hope), we enjoyed it. A large part of our enjoyment came from Ridley’s depiction of Rey. In Rey, there were the seeds of the Jedi so many of us little girls dreamed of growing up to be. Beyond that, Ridley imbued her character with a combination of doe-eyed innocence and world-weary grit. In short, while the movie wasn’t perfect, Ridley herself was utterly charming and carried it with ease, making us eagerly anticipate the films to follow.
By the end of Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker, however? Ridley was still charming, but the trilogy’s flaws were no longer so easily overlooked. Maybe Reylo fans could find some things to love about the ending of the trilogy. But I’m not a Reylo fan and we never will be. So for me, the series ended with more of a whimper than a bang, and I couldn’t shake the feeling that Ridley herself (along with John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Kelly Marie Tran, and, hell, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, and even Gwendoline Christie) had the potential to be more than the films themselves allowed her to be.
Part of the complaint was just how small the Star Wars universe seems when everybody on screen is related to everyone else. There was something rather…refreshing about the idea that Rey was the offspring of nobody in particular. Of course, when you’re a little kid enacting mock lightsaber duels in your living room, you want to pretend to be a Skywalker or a Solo. (I don’t know if any kid dreams of being a Palpatine, but they probably do. Kids are weird, and lightning hands are admittedly pretty cool.) But trying Rey to “nobodies” sent the message that anyone could be a Jedi. Being the next Jedi or the last Jedi or, frankly, any Jedi at all doesn’t have “direct descendent of one of maybe a half dozen bloodlines” as a prerequisite.
It’s this disappointment that leaves us somewhat conflicted about Ridley’s next Star Wars film. Would we love more of Rey? Absolutely. I suspect she’ll be every bit as charming in this installment as she was in the last. But I can’t claim unequivocal enthusiasm because she’ll unfortunately carry some baggage from the movies that came before. Though perhaps she won’t have to shoulder all of it. Maybe – hopefully – they’ll leave the whole Reylo mess behind them. They don’t have to recon anything. But they don’t ever have to mention it again. In fact, I rather wish they wouldn’t.
Ridley’s next film is one of three announced at Star Wars Celebration Europe 2023. It will be directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and will focus on Rey’s attempts to build a new Jedi Order. So maybe this film will embrace the message that was undone in the last trilogy: anyone can be a Jedi.
Of course, fans online greeted this movie news with thoughts – and concerns – of their own:
Also announced at Star Wars Celebration 2022 were a film about the dawn of the Jedi Order, helmed by James Mangold, and a film about the New Republic, which will be directed by Dave Filoni.
