ST Rey Skywalker/Daisy Ridley Discussion Thread

I think Rey should have been introduced as a Jedi padawan in a non wiped out Jedi Order. Either Han and Leia’s kid or no implied special parents . Then she could have been Luke’s student and would have a natural connection to the story. And you could have Luke Skywalker in episode 7. Making a soft reboot of the original trilogy is why they were so afraid of Luke overshadowing the new characters, cause the new characters were changed from George Lucas versions of “Rey” and “Kylo” into cosplayers of Luke and Darth Vader.

 

They lost the plot. Simple.
I'm done with Disney.

 

Harry Potter stole a lot from Star Wars, and if Star Wars could pinch one idea in return, it should have been to create an adventure based around a trio of padawans in a Jedi academy based on the frontier of the galaxy. And then have Rey, Ben et al stumble across a defected stormtrooper/Sith artefact etc. etc. and have the adventure continue from there...

 

I actually think the ST story is fine as is. What we are missing is an additional trilogy of films set between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens filling in the triumphs and defeat of the OT main characters. The story picking up after a 33 year gap is what leaves a lot of fans wanting.

Everything you suggest for the story would have worked in that earlier Trilogy. Except there wouldn’t be a Rey, and instead an original new character filling the role you suggest. Rey’s story can still happen later and her origin being a clear mystery used as a strength.

 

They covered a lot of that with the EU, but Disney scrapped it only to replace Jaina and Jacen Solo with Rey and Ben.

There's no way we can have stories about the OT cast now as Carrie's gone and the others way too old. I initially liked the new cast but TROS ruined them and everything else.

I think the only way DLF can go forward now is by focusing either on events hundreds of years in the past or hundreds of years in the future, and they've only themselves to blame.

 

A trilogy set between the OT and ST would have needed to be started in the 90s. By 2015 the original cast was already too old for that story.

 

But that’s on the ST right? DLF had a blank canvas on which to paint the ST. The only reason you’re stating that an additional trilogy is required is because DLF chose to make sequels without the required context and cohesion. The sequels could have just as easily been about Luke running the Jedi academy, the creation of the First Order, the corruption of Ben etc. etc.

 

I would have liked to have seen that, but I imagine the OT3's ages would have made that a challenge, unless they recast.

 

They could have just ad easily gone the cameo route, especially if they had put it a 100 years or so in the future. Then you can do flashbacks, holos or force ghost.

But then they had too little faith in doing their own story instead of sweet sweet OT money by basically re-doing it with their characters. That this runs the risk of destroying the OT and therefore further sweet sweet OT money prospects? Either too arrogant or too short-sighted to take that into account.

 

wellllll….

I’ve argued that the Saga feels like a novel with a quarter of the chapters torn out.

If they wanted to make a *sequel* trilogy (not just a trilogy set years after eps 1-6) set 3 decades post-rotj, and if DLF wanted the state of the galaxy and OT3 to be *different* than the logical, predictable continuation of RotJ, narrative cohesion arguably demanded that a good chunk of the story be wrapped up in those intervening years and the mystery of How We Got to Now.

From what I’ve seen, though, it seems a great number of fans didn’t expect of require an ST to literally be part of the same story as Eps 1-6 - just a story that took place years later and shared characters with Eps 1-6. Like Legends. I think this may be because of how other “sagas” and “trilogies” are structured - a self-contained movie with a bunch of loosely-connected sequels.

I sometimes wonder if my own expectations were in the minority, even if I’m confident that my expectation was what was advertised.

 

Well remember that we got to see Mark Hamill play that younger version of himself in flash back in TLJ… and there was no CGI jiggery pockery… just old fashioned makeup and hair dye. So yes, they couldn’t have played themselves 6 months after ROTJ, but I’m pretty sure they could have set the ST long enough after ROTJ that it would have allowed the OT3 to be older, but to still see the Jedi Academy and New Republic in their early years (as opposed to early days)…

Regardless of preferences, I think what most fans ultimately wanted was an engaging story that felt connected to the previous spirit/ethos of what went before… i.e. I think most fans were actually open to various possibilities. For example, despite my reservations at the time, I found Rogue One to be a thoroughly engaging Star Wars film… and despite whatever our personal preferences may be, I think *if* the ST had an engaging story, felt connected to what went before, and was consistant with itself, I believe we wouldn’t be having half of these conversations now.
The films were always going to come with preconceived notions of what/who they’d be about, and Star Wars does bring with it high expectations, but I don’t believe that’s necessarily on the fans, but incumbent on the filmmakers to create something that most can get onboard with…

 

It’s incumbent on the studio not to falsely advertise their product.

That’s the point.

Many will be happy with whatever good movie they’re presented, but others will be unhappy if they were promised something different than what they got. And that’s legitimate.

 

I like/get the idea of a trilogy set between the OT and the ST, but I don't think that was necessary. Rather - IMHO - they shouldn't have made it seem that when we pick up the ST, the OT characters had accomplished almost nothing. And keep in mind, I did put the word "seem" in there. When the ST begins, Luke has run off and is in hiding, the Jedi weren't rekindled, Han and Leia's marriage is "on the rocks", Han has run off to sadly try to recapture his "glory days" with Chewie, their kid is an evil murderous Darth Vader wannabe, the "New Republic" appears inept and ineffectual, and the Empire is 90% "back" (I know, it's the First Order...but everything about it screams "Empire"). It might be possible to do all of that, and not give the impression that a lot of the OT didn't matter and/or the OT "heroes" were largely inconsequential if TFA and TLJ included more exposition making it clear that there really was a period of peace and prosperity between OT and ST. If you found a way to strongly - and I mean STRONGLY - make that point, you might be able to have Luke, Han and Leia be in precisely the same places (although I would still rather it was otherwise!), and have it work better. The places they are in would still be sad, but you'd have a much greater sense that what is happening is that evil is rising again, that - as Dr Manhattan once said, I think, "nothing is ever over" - versus it simply being sad and without it making it seem that the OT "accomplished nothing".

PS - There are some weird elements to the SW movies. For example, the "good" governments (of the Prequels and the Sequels) seem to be somewhat ineffectual, inefficient, and not up to the challenges of their times. I get that the case can be made that we aren't seeing the Republic in its glory days. Still.... And you can kinda say the same for the Jedi. We see their fall, but not their rise or them in their prime. It's a strange choice in a lot of ways. The time periods chosen, the snapshots we are given, tend to capture a lot of the "good guys" at their weakest or worst, and not simply to set up challenges to be overcome.

 

Of course advertising shouldn't be lying to the customers. However, advertising comes after decision-making. If Disney had bought LFL and simply said they were gonna make a new trilogy and then simply proceeded to make three movies that were just set a 100 years in the future with small OT cameos, that would have been perfectly in their right, IMO not unexpected and also nowhere falsely advertised. I also don't think they would have gotten much blowback, if any, for it.

 

Exactly that… it goes without saying that Disney were never going to win many fans over by overtly crapping on George Lucas, the PT and advertising the ST as something it wasn’t…

Put Luke and Rey (as father and daughter or uncle and niece) at the heart of the overarching story, and you’ve got a fundamentally stronger base to build a sequel trilogy off… IMO… and one that more mirrors the Anakin and Luke dynamic that came before it…

Apologies for double post…

 

So... has anybody seen Daisy's new movie, "Chaos Walking"?

Because I saw it at the store yesterday and it was surprising she got to act with Tom Holland (new Spiderman actor).

 

Heard it’s awful

 

I read the plot, it was... um... kinda strange. And she looked weirder with blond but she does look good I guess. I miss Rey.

 

It only got released because of the pandemic and need for content. Says it all.

 

Well that's tragic and disappointing.

 

I've seen enough of it that I can say that it feels like an offshoot of Will Smith and M. Night's After Earth (they even share a similar poster scheme). That, the troubled production history, and the fact that it's based on a YA Novel (IIRC), does it no favors in terms of audience impression. Everyone involved deserved a better movie, because that was a waste of talent. This is just another Jumper for Doug Liman.

I hope Ridley gets better roles. I don't want this girl to disappear, only to be remembered as "Rey from Star Wars".

 

Yeah... I do hope that both of them get better roles than this movie. I only saw the posters and DVDs but I agree with you.

 

Apparently it got a lot of reshoots because the first version got deemed unreleasable by the studio. From what I heard from reviewers I've seen it, they found it okay, compared to expecting sonething horrible. What that evens out to, I have no idea. I thought the premise was kind of eye-rollworthy, especially the ideas on gender being really simplistic.

 

Hunger Games was based on a series of YA novels, and it was a massive success.
I'm sorry for Daisy; hope she bounces back. Tom is now Spider Man so he has something to fall back on, but I don't know what forthcoming projects Daisy has lined up.