When The Force Awakens came out in 2015, viewers found it to be oddly similar to the first Star Wars movie, now called A New Hope. Indications are that The Last Jedi might resemble The Empire Strikes Back. Meaning, the middle movie of a trilogy that's darker, explains relationships between the characters, and instead of a happy ending delivers a bridge to the third film. What is strange is that director Rian Johnson was given freedom to tell his own story, regardless of what Episode IX will reveal. That movie will be directed by JJ Abrams, so who knows where the story will go. Daisy Ridley, who plays Rey, has some insight into what we will learn eventually.
Unlike almost everyone else in the world, Ridley has known for years who Rey's parents are, since Abrams told her on the set of The Force Awakens. Ridley believes that nothing ever changed: "I thought what I was told in the beginning is what it is." Which is odd, because Johnson insists he had free rein to come up with any answer he wanted to the question. "I wasn't given any directive as to what that had to be," he says. "I was never given the information that she is this or she is that."
The idea that Johnson and Abrams somehow landed on the same answer does seem to suggest that Rey's parents aren't some random, never-before-seen characters. All that said, Abrams cryptically hints there may have been more coordination between him and Johnson than the latter director has let on, so who knows what's going on here – they may be messing with us to preserve one of Abrams' precious mystery boxes. In any case, Ridley loves the speculation: Her favorite fan theories involve immaculate conception and time travel. It seems more likely that she's either Luke's daughter or his niece, but again, who knows.
Rolling Stone talked to Johnson, Ridley, Mark Hamill, and Adam Driver for a look into their characters and what The Last Jedi may or may not be about. There are no spoilers, of course, but there are plenty of clues about the new film.