It was one of the many divisive moments of Star Wars: The Last Jedi when the long-building mystery of the identity of Rey’s parents finally (anti-)climaxed with the revelation that they were no one special. But while the news that mom and dad were nothing more than filthy junk traders who sold Rey off for drinking money is a typically subversive twist from director Rian Johnson, there’s always a chance that the relatively nostalgic J.J. Abrams will find a way to retcon this reveal in next year’s Star Wars: Episode IX.
That’s certainly what many fan theorists are counting on, with predictions of Rey’s mother in particular ranging from Qi’ra in Solo: A Star Wars Story to whoever Keri Russell’s playing. Speaking of the latter, Kevin Smith seems excited about this new fan theory, which posits that not only is Russell playing Rey’s mom, but her character is a figure already familiar to viewers of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
Apparently this idea all started with Smith suggesting the need for a new strong female character in the Star Wars saga.
“We were talking about [Star Wars: The] Clone Wars coming back and I said to him, ‘I got a theory that that’s the way to start introducing Ahsoka slowly into the live-action movies by bringing her back prominently in the cartoon,'” Smith recalled on his Fatman on Batman podcast about discussing the saga with a colleague. “Because now that they don’t have Princess Leia stories to tell, they need another strong female character in the universe and Ahsoka’s been there for years, much beloved, just isn’t in the movies.”
From here, it’s speculated that Anakin’s old Padawan Ahsoka Tano may already have a very personal connection to one of the current characters in the series.
“So I was like, ‘I think maybe they’re doing that so they can slowly bring her into the movies.’ And then Brian [Volk–Weiss] blows my f-ckin’ mind by going, ‘Maybe that’s who Keri Russell’s playing?’ and then I said, ‘What the f-ck, man?! I wanna see your version of Star Wars!’ Then I was like, ‘No, that can’t be it, I think Keri Russell probably plays Rey’s mom,’ and then he f-ckin’ drops the bomb and he goes, ‘What if it’s the same person?'”
A nice idea, perhaps, but while we can ‘What if?’ all we want, even Smith admits that this one’s unlikely.
“So, instantly, I wrote to JJ Abrams, ‘You must do this.’ Could you imagine? That would be f-ckin’ wild,” Smith joked. “I don’t think it is, but that was one of the greatest fan theories I’ve ever heard about. Wouldn’t that be hot? Not only is Ahsoka in these movies but she’s f-ckin’ Rey’s mom! And somewhere, Rian Johnson’s like, ‘What the f-ck?! I said no! I said they were trash!'”
Indeed, this would be a tricky development to work into the story, seeing how Ahsoka doesn’t really fit the unflattering description of Rey’s parents presented in The Last Jedi. Either way, you can bet that Star Wars: Episode IX will have a few twists up its sleeve when it hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.