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J.J. Abrams On The ‘Mistake’ In ‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’

By Niki Cruz
Published on: 06:35 PST, Mar 9, 2016

It’s hard to see any flaws in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, especially given how successful it has been at the box office and with fans of the franchise. That said, director J.J. Abrams, who took over for George Lucas in creating a whole new world for Star Wars fans, is explaining that there was one mistake with the film.

Abrams took some time out of his busy schedule to talk with Slash Film about his new film 10 Cloverfield Lane, but in talking about that movie, of course discussion turned to one of the biggest projects he’s ever had a hand in — Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

The prolific director talks about one scene that had people talking. If you haven’t seen Star Wars: The Force Awakens, look away, because we have a major spoiler in store for you. After Han Solo is killed by his own son, Kylo Ren, General Leia hugs Rey, and not Chewbacca, who was Han Solo’s right hand and best friend throughout the entire franchise. So, why would Leia hug a complete stranger over consoling Han Solo’s best friend? People wondered, and now we have an answer.

According to J.J. Abrams, it was a huge mistake that he made on his part when assembling Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

“That was probably one of the mistakes I made in that. My thinking at the time was that Chewbacca, despite the pain he was feeling, was focused on trying to save Finn and getting him taken care of. So I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey.”

He continued as follows.

“The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other — that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw on-screen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss.”

Abrams said his real failure was the execution in the scene. The director goes on to say that if he would’ve shot the film differently, and taken Chewie out of the scene, then people wouldn’t have jumped to conclusions about Rey’s biological lines (many suspect she’s Leia’s daughter).

Here’s some reactions to J.J.’s new insight.

The last we heard from Abrams about Star Wars, he was talking about the possibility of a gay character being introduced into the world. While many assume that Poe is gay, Abrams said that he’s hopeful a new character will be brought into the world.

In an interview with the Business Standard, Abrams said the following.

“When I talk about inclusivity its not excluding gay characters, it’s about inclusivity so of course. To me the fun of ‘Star Wars’ is exploring the possibilities, so it seems insanely narrow minded to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”

Star Mark Hamill, who’s played Luke Skywalker since the original films, also said that Luke could be gay, but at the end of the day, it’s “meant to be interpreted by the viewer.”

[Photo by Kimberly White/Getty Images for the New York Times]

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