Star Wars: J.J. Abrams Originally Named Rey 'Keera'

Arguably the biggest mystery presented with The Force Awakens was the heritage of Rey and the reasoning behind why her family abandoned her on Jakku, creating a wide variety of theories. While fans don't know her last name, which could be a dead giveaway, actress Daisy Ridley recently confirmed that, before Rey, the character was actually named "Keera."

According to CinemaBlend, the actress recently recalled that J.J. Abrams "told me it was meant to be Keera. And then, when we were already shooting in Abu Dhabi, he told me that he was thinking of going with Rey, which I thought was frickin' awesome. But because I had to audition so much and everything, I never really had a conversation with J.J. about it until I had read the script."

Star Wars characters have often gotten multiple names throughout a film's development, with Luke Skywalker famously having originally been named "Starkiller." A character can evolve for a variety of reasons, so we may never know why the character was changed to Rey, but, given how famous the character has become, it's hard to imagine calling her "Keera."

The upcoming The Last Jedi will explore even further Rey's conflicted identity, as we've seen her struggle to find leadership and her place in the world. When we saw the character at the end of The Force Awakens, she had begun to hone her powers with the Force to defeat Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). Since he clearly represented a Dark path, we assumed Rey represented the Light.

In trailers for the upcoming film, we've heard Luke (Mark Hamill) claim that the Jedi must end, displaying how he's been struggling with the Force. This has raised the question of whether Luke has potentially turned his back on his former ways and has embraced a darker path, or if his morals are now ambiguous.

If Luke's devotion to the Jedi ways has wavered, he could potentially hand down those doubts to Rey, potentially resulting in her doubts about which path is right for her. The trailer has also shown what could potentially be a union between Kylo and Rey, although those sequences could just be clever editing.

We'll see where Rey's journey goes when The Last Jedi hits theaters on December 15.

[H/T CinemaBlend]