Rey Continues To Be Left Out Of Star Wars Merch
Please note. This post contains major spoilers from The Force Awakens.
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Hasbro has struck again with their release of the Star Wars: The Force Awakens Monopoly set. The film’s central protagonist was not included in the figures. Instead, Darth Vader–who does not appear in the film–and Luke Skywalker, who is only in the film for roughly 30 seconds and has zero dialog, are among the choices.
A Hasbro spokesperson took to Twitter in response to the criticism and claimed that Rey was excluded so that her final battle with Kylo Ren would not be spoiled. They did not deign to elaborate exactly how her figure would spoil this one scene, or why they couldn’t conceive of a way to include her that didn’t do so.
It seems like a flimsy excuse, especially as Rey has two other weapons–her staff and the blaster Han Solo gives her–which her figure could have wielded in lieu of the lightsaber she uses in her showdown with Ren. It’s especially galling in light of the fact that fear of spoilers hasn’t hampered the release of Kylo Ren merchandise in the slightest. That’s probably by virtue of the fact that it’s not in any way, shape, or form necessary to divulge even a single plot point when selling a toy. And, as previously stated, she wields not one but two other weapons besides the lightsaber.
Rey has also been left out of the Millennium Falcon playset (ie, the ship she repaired and piloted), which features Chewbacca, Finn, and BB-8, and multiple other sets have her replaced with generic stormtroopers.
This is sadly business as usual for non-princess Disney characters. Black Widow has been excluded from the majority of Avengers merchandise; a LEGO set went so far as to replace her in the scene where she rides a motorcycle out of the jet by Iron Man, the guy who doesn’t need a motorcycle because his suit is capable of flight. Gamora of Guardians of the Galaxy had even less merchandise, troubling in light of the fact that the raccoon and tree were deemed more worthy of representation.
One Comment on “Rey Continues To Be Left Out Of Star Wars Merch”
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Pop Culture To Die For 
Wow, this is brutal. I see no reason at all to exclude her from monopoly and the Falcon set. Just appalling really.
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