The Skywalkers will be the focus of Star Wars: The Force Awakens
I know it doesn’t sound like a particularly large revelation, but Lucasfilm President — Kathleen Kennedy — recently told the Costco Connection (yes, I know it sounds that weird) that the Skywalker family will be the focus of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In an excerpt from her interview with the magazine, Kennedy had this to say:
"“The saga films focus on the Skywalker family. The stories follow a linear narrative that connects to the previous 6 films. The Force Awakens, follows ROTJ and continues that generational story.”"
The reason this is newsworthy, is that we have been led to believe that J.J. Abrams was going to expand the Star Wars story and explore the universe more in depth, with a larger spectrum of characters. He can still do this quite easily, but this revelation just means there may be more Skywalkers than Leia and Luke. And, if the Skywalkers are indeed the focus of the film, then any of his few previous interviews on the subject may have served as a red herring of sorts.
This may also explain why we haven’t been given the last names of some of the main characters like Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley), and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). It should be noted that Ren is not a last name, but the order of Force users that Kylo belongs to.
Naysayers will cry that the one drawback from having the Skywalkers be the focus of the newest trilogy, is that it will pigeon-hole the saga a bit. However, isn’t Star Wars all about the story of the Skywalkers, in the first place?
From the rescue of young Ani Skywalker from slavery on Tatooine by Jedi Master Qui-Gon Jinn in The Phantom Menace. The adventures of Padawan Anakin Skywalker and newly minted Jedi Knight Obi-Wan Kenobi in The Clone Wars. The story of love lost, the betrayal of a brother, the turning of the fabled Chosen One, and the fall of the Jedi in Revenge of the Sith. The discovery of Anakin’s son — Luke — living on Tatooine and his finding both the Force and old Ben Kenobi, and his father’s lightsaber, and then the showdown and eventual death of Obi-Wan by the hand of his old friend and brother Anakin in the form of Darth Vader in A New Hope. The revelation that Anakin’s other child — Leia — is alive and is Luke’s twin, Luke’s training my exiled Master Yoda, and the huge revelation that Anakin is now Darth Vader and the father to Luke in Empire Strikes Back. And finally, Jedi Master Luke Skywalker rescues his friends, helps the rebellion strike the final blow against the Empire, and helps his father — Anakin — find his way back to the Light side of the Force as they both kill Emperor Palpatine who was Darth Sidious, and then the final revelation that both Yoda and Anakin has joined Obi-Wan as a Force ghost at the end of Return of the Jedi.
the Star Wars saga has quite literally been all about the Skywalker family from the beginning, with the supporting cast of players and their side-stories being told throughout. Hopefully, the new trilogy will continue this cyclical pattern of storytelling set forth by George Lucas, and from kathleen Kennedy’s interview, it sure does seem as if it will.
H/T – The Cantina on Star Wars Seven News