UPDATE: J.J. Abrams has since gone on to clarify the statement he made to EW, saying:

“What I meant was that she doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world.”

This can be interpreted in a couple ways. In one instance, what he seems to be saying is that Rey hasn’t met them yet. So perhaps it is someone we have seen, but it’s not someone Rey has met. Another way to view it is that the character didn’t show up in the film at all. Either way, this seems to rule out Han, Luke, and Leia as potential parents.

Hat tip to readyrun in the comments for alerting us of this update.

ORIGINAL STORY:

Last year’s STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS succeeded on many levels. It firmly took the series back to its roots with its visual effects, and brought the overall focus back to the characters. Something the film also did was leave us with a myriad of questions regarding our lead, Rey. Among those questions was perhaps the most debated question of all: “who are Rey’s parents?”

The speculation has gone all over the place. One popular theory postulates that she’s Luke’s daughter. After all, up until this point, the STAR WARS series has been about Skywalkers, so why wouldn’t the trend continue in the third trilogy of films? Another theory is that she is Han and Leia’s daughter. This technically still fits within the “Skywalker” theory, but that would sort of fly in the face of a lot of scenes in THE FORCE AWAKENS. Then again, it’s not something that couldn’t be explained away, given the right circumstances.

So which is it? STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS director J.J. Abrams isn’t telling, but he’s not above giving us some pretty strong hints. Speaking at New York’s Tribeca Film Festival Friday night, he gave us our biggest clue to date regarding Rey’s parentage.

“Rey’s parents are not in Episode VII. So I can’t possibly at this moment tell you who they are.”

So there you have it. Rey’s parents aren’t anyone in THE FORCE AWAKENS.

This shuts down the previously-mentioned theories right away. This may disappoint some fans dramatically, but at the end of the day, it’s probably better for the story. STAR WARS takes place in a big universe, after all, and given its size, it doesn’t quite make sense that everyone would either know or be related to one another. While this does seem to shut down the speculation train for a time, in the long run, it’ll likely be for the series’ benefit. Perhaps this will allow the Rey’s character to stand on her own merits, rather than rest on the shoulders of the Skywalkers before her. Even Daisy Ridley recently stated that it doesn’t really matter who her parents are.

And if you really want to know who they are, looks like you’ll have to wait until STAR WARS EPISODE VIII to get your next big hint, because as far as we know, the character is someone we’ve yet to meet (or at the very least, it’s not anyone we’ve seen recently).

What are your thoughts on this latest development from Abrams? Sound off down below!

STAR WARS EPISODE VIII hits U.S. theaters on December 15, 2017.

The first anthology film, ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY hits theaters on December 16, 2016.

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SOURCE: CNN Money, EW