4. Rose Tico
While The Last Jedi was a controversial film, it was certainly made better by the addition of Kelly Marie Tran, who played Resistance technician Rose Tico. We first see her tucked away on the Resistance flagship crying, overcome with grief at the loss of her sister. Then minutes later we see her spunk, as she stuns one of her heroes when she catches Finn attempting to desert.
The Last Jedi unpacks many layers to her character: she is a brilliant technician, incredibly smart, compassionate yet with a backbone of steel, and has strong opinions about the universe and how it should work. We looked forward to seeing how she would be involved in The Rise of Skywalker.
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The answer, unfortunately, was not very much. J.J. Abrams and team made the decision not to involve her with the main band of adventurers. She was present on Ajan Kloss but never involved in the romping missions going on. The reasoning was provided from Tran’s own lips in the movie; General Organa wished for her to stay behind and look at old Star Destroyer schematics.
This characters is dying to see the light of day again. Her backstory has been developed in extra-cinematic sources, both in the comics and books. Her future, however, is an open canvas.
What does Rose do after the fall of The Final Order? Does she continue to work for The Resistance as it seeks to restore The New Republic? Does she leave to pursue lifting injustice across the galaxy? How awesome would a show be where Rose drops in on a planet with a ramshackle crew, a traveling Robin Hood of sorts helping the poor and liberating the oppressed?
Whatever the plot, Kelly Marie Tran and the character of Rose Tico deserve more time on screen. We will all be the better for it.