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Credit: Inside the MagicDamon Lindelof was initially meant to write the next Star Wars epic, which would have focused on Rey Skywalker. However, it was reported that Lindelof was “asked to leave” his project. This could be because the man’s highly ambitious script was nowhere near what Lucasfilm hoped for, as he wrote Rey Skywalker (Daisy Ridley) to be an older woman.
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Daisy Ridley was announced to return as Rey Skywalker during the huge Star Wars Celebration event in the UK in March. This new movie began to reveal its details, which included Rey putting the Jedi Order back together. While that sounds like a wonderful idea, Damon Lindelof went too far into the future.
Lindelof most recently wrote the new Watchmen series for HBO, which was a massive hit. The excitement around his potential Star Wars was palpable, but now that excitement has turned to disappointment.
The creator initially wanted to make Rey Skywalker an older woman, and his idea was to have the story take place some 60 years after the events of Rise of Skywalker. Helen Mirren was being targeted to take on the role of the seasoned Jedi. While Mirren is a fantastic actress who could demand respect in a Star Wars role, having the story take place that far into the future would have been bizarre.
Thankfully, Lucasfilm stepped in and all but fired Damon Lindelof. Lucasfilm CEO Kathleen Kennedy then revealed the plans for this upcoming movie that features Daisy Ridley.
Kennedy said, “Well we’re 15 years out from Rise of Skywalker, so we’re post-war, post-First Order, and the Jedi are in disarray. There’s a lot of discussion around, ‘Who are the Jedi? What are they doing? What’s the state of the galaxy? She’s attempting to rebuild the Jedi Order, based on the books, based on what she promised Luke (Mark Hamill), so that’s where we’re going.”
Rey Skywalker being 15 years older makes far more sense than for her to be an older woman. So much can happen in the galaxy within 60 years. At that point, the Jedi Order would presumably have already been rebuilt, thus taking away from the general idea of the story. Either that or Rey would have been wandering for those 60 years. Either way, Lucasfilm did not like Lindelof’s story.
With Rey Skywalker being 15 years past the events of Rise of Skywalker, that is far more manageable for her to have possibly located another long-lost Jedi or even trained up the kids shown to be Force-sensitive after Rise of Skywalker.
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The assumption would now be that Rey’s attempts to restart the Jedi Order will be turned into another budding series. The good news is that it appears the Skywalker Saga will finally be moved on from, and Rey can usher in a new era that Star Wars fans will support.
Would you have liked to see an elderly Rey Skywalker in the new Star Wars movie? Let Inside the Magic know in the comments down below!