I think I’d prefer the default version of this project not to venture down the path of making her parents back into shitheads, but I see your point.
I mean, there’s another sticky point here that we’re all ignoring: If we want to go with a Rey Palpatine version, then the character arc/theme is “Your bloodline decides how good or evil you are,” which is not only weird as hell (why would morality be a genetic trait?), but it’s also tangentially explored by Kylo’s storyline. (Although I think that one works better because Kylo wants to embrace the Dark Side, unlike Rey.)
So the problem is, if you want to make Rey’s parents be good guys, that effectively negates the already ludicrous theme that Chris and J.J. are trying to explore. If your bloodline determines your morality, why is Rey’s dad a good guy when his dad is evil incarnate? And more importantly, if Rey comes from two good people, wouldn’t that mean she is genetically “good”? By the movie’s own logic, Rey’s parents being good means she doesn’t have to worry about being susceptible to the Dark Side at all.
So you can make a movie about how Rey is descended from a line of “shitheads,” and she has to break the cycle. Or, more powerfully imo, make a movie about how Rey is her own person, and she rises or falls on her own merits, not her gene pool. (Rey Nobody ftw!) What makes absolutely no thematic sense is to have Rey be descended from Palpatine, but also have her parents be good, kindly folks.
Ah, what a mess.
This should have been the main tagline for the film haha
Can we put this on the TROS poster? Please?