J.J. Abrams' Comment Could Prove Luke Is Rey's Dad

As many Star Wars fans know by now, the big question in the continuation of the original trilogy seems to be this: Who are Rey's parents? Considering that she has access to the inherently strong powers of the Force — and Luke's lightsaber seems to call to her over Kylo Ren — in Episode VII, it only makes sense that her bloodline traces back to one of the vital characters we have met in the franchise so far. And now, amidst J.J. Abrams back-tracking his comments made at the Tribeca Film Festival, the prospect of Luke being Rey's father now seems incredibly likely — even more so than before.

Initially, all of the possibilities of Luke being Rey's dad seemed to have been crushed when The Force Awakens' director, J.J. Abrams, revealed that: “Rey’s parents are not in Episode VII, so I can’t possibly say in this moment who they are. But I will say it is something that Rey thinks about, too.” However, in an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Abrams quickly mended our confused broken hearts by clarifying his statement in saying, "What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world." And to me, both the combination of his initial statement mixed with his need to correct himself only tells me one thing: Now Luke almost definitely has to be Rey's father.

First of all, Abrams' move to even backtrack on his statement in the first place says a lot. While he could have easily allowed the rumors to continue flying and saying that Rey's parents were not in The Force Awakens, he instead decided to do damage control before fans figured out that that statement was wrong. That could only mean one thing: now Rey's parents (or at least one of them) has to have been already seen in Episode VII. Otherwise, there was simply nothing to correct in the first place.

But, why Luke? You could easily be saying that perhaps Han Solo and Princess Leia are Rey's parents as well. However, when it comes to Luke, his relation to her just seems to make the most sense. Han's devastating demise didn't lead him, Leia, or even Kylo Ren to tell Rey that Han was her father, I feel that immediately takes Han Solo out of the running as her dad. And I highly doubt Leia forgot about mothering a baby girl. But the moment Leia happily sends Rey off to meet Luke? She could know that her niece is about to be reconnected with her father (but it's really not her place to tell her that).

From there, the exact reunion moment between Rey and Luke then says so much. Not only does Luke seem to recognize Rey when he first sees her (although remaining silent due to the intensity of the moment), but he also specifically notices that she is handing him his own original lightsaber. It belonged to Anakin before Luke, and the lightsaber doesn't seem to call to just anyone. It seems to call to the members of the Skywalker family who are deep with the power of the Force. And only if there is ever a possibility it can be used for good (Sorry, Kylo!).

While I do believe that Jyn Erso from the upcoming film, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story , could be Rey's mother, the only real prospect for a parent from Episode VII alone is Luke himself. And now it's up to director Rian Johnson and Colin Trevorrow to help us figure out what the answers may be.

Images: Lucasfilm/Walt Disney Pictures; Giphy (2)