Fixer wrote:
Unfortunately they kept Luke out because he "overshadowed" Rey. Unfortunately I think this is a continuation of the poor fan-fic level writing that pervaded TFA. They didn't want anyone to appear stronger than their new merchandisable and not yet licenced to every toy company character.
Again I have to disagree
From the writer:
“Early on I tried to write versions of the story where [Rey] is at home, her home is destroyed, and then she goes on the road and meets Luke. And then she goes and kicks the bad guy’s ass,” Arndt said (via EW). “It just never worked and I struggled with this. This was back in 2012.” Apparently the issue was Luke’s presence was always upstaging everyone in the script. “It just felt like every time Luke came in and entered the movie, he just took it over,” Arndt continued. “Suddenly you didn’t care about your main character anymore because, ‘Oh f–k, Luke Skywalker’s here. I want to see what he’s going to do.’”
I honestly don't think this was about merchandising...I think Luke took over the film as he says.
This bizarre leap of logic suggests that Obi Wan and Yoda overshadowed Luke and should have been written out.
I don't think the scenario you mention is comparable to the one in TFA. Luke has three movies plus years of EU material behind him at this point. Kenobi and Yoda had nowhere near the fan following/investment that Luke has now, when they were instructing the young Skywalker. The fact people were clamoring to know where Luke was in all the trailers to TFA tells me the writers were right...if Luke had shown up earlier in the film he would've taken it over and just about tossed the new characters aside...unintentionally.
Knowing that there was basically a mandate to write Rey in such a way to sell merchandise
They wanted a strong female force users for young girls to look up to...but I wouldn't say they were specifically trying to sell toys...since all the quotes I've seen on the subject suggest they didn't design anyone to just sell toys.
When it comes to TFA being safe though, I definitely say it was. Everything from the basic plot to the aesthetics of the First Order and Resistance which were re-branded and palette swapped Galactic Empire and Rebellion.
It had familiar elements but the chances it took were noticeable. The safest thing to do would've been to have Luke, Leia, and Han all feature prominently in the film and come together again. Instead Han is killed by his own son, Luke is kept out until the very end and given no speaking lines while Rey and Finn are focused and built up in hopes audiences will take a liking to them
It doesn't make much sense with TIE Fighters for example, from a Lore perspective the giant hexagon wings were only used on the cheap, mass produced models and swapped for low profile bent wing designs on every following design. The advanced TIE/fo keep the giant wings pretty much for evoking nostalgia in original trilogy fans.
They did use nostalgia, but I don't think the design of a TIE fighter overshadows the risk already taken on screen.
Unfortunately while I do applaud them taking risks and going somewhere with Rian's script I get the feeling that we might be walking into another midichlorians scenario on a grander scale. Something new inserted into the universe not really understanding the spirit and mythology that's built up around the work and damages the lore as a result.
Look....if you've watched the Clone wars series then you are aware of the 'Mortiss' episodes and the final episode where Yoda went on a trip to explore the nature of the force. Both of these episodes had heavy involvement from George Lucas, so if TLJ is using that to continue forward then, to me, it's not an insertion of something new...it's a further revelation upon a world we don't fully understand. The story group has a vested interest in keeping everything straight, so I figure it will all line up (more or less) as we continue on.
