"Star Wars: The Force Awakens" left a lot of mysteries open ended, but one thing they made perfectly clear is that Daisy Ridley's Rey, John Boyega's Finn, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren and Oscar Isaac's Poe Dameron will all be the focal points going forward. However, what if that isn't true? What if the "Star Wars" galaxy isn't done introducing new leads? A recent comment from Boyega seems to suggest just that.
We've known for some time that Kelly Marie Tran will be joining our heroes in "Star Wars: Episode VIII." However, it has always been assumed that her role would be of the supporting capacity. But Boyega's recent appearance at a screening of the new documentary "Secrets of Star Wars: The Force Awakens" now has us thinking otherwise. While at the event, Boyega opened up about "Star Wars: Episode VIII" and used the phrase "new lead" when referring to Tran.
When Lucasfilm announced that filming had begun on "Episode VII," their statement included the names of three new cast members: Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro and Kelly Marie Tran. Perhaps the studio was sending a message to fans by including the relatively unknown Tran with Academy Awards winners Del Toro and Dern. It wasn't that long ago when rumors were swirling that Lucasfilm was considering a handful of actresses for what was being referred to as the "female lead" in "Episode VIII."
Then there's the recent shuffling of the next film's release date so that the studio could make changes to the script. While the company line has been that they wanted to expand the roles of our returning heroes (Rey, Finn, Poe), it could have also been a ploy to make room for a new addition.
None of this means that Ridley is being replaced as the primary actress in the new "Star Wars" films. But perhaps she is being joined by another empowered female character. Or maybe this is all just some clever misdirection to keep director Rian Johnson's true intentions a secret. You can never really tell with Disney and Lucasfilm.
We'll let you know if any other relevant information becomes available.
"Star Wars: Episode VIII" is scheduled for Dec. 15, 2017.
