By now most film fans, especially those into science fiction, have had a chance to see "Star Wars: The Force Awakens," and become familiar with Rey, the blockbuster action star who is without a last name or a clear lineage to the other characters in the franchise. While many fans and critics of the movie were quick to assume Rey was a direct daughter of either the Skywalker or Solo family, many others were just as quick to cast doubt upon those assumptions and even came up with wild hypothesis such as Rey being the reincarnation of Darth Vader, otherwise known as Anakin Skywalker.

That's right, some fans were certain that Rey was in fact Luke's reborn father. The jury is still out on these notions and theories.

J.J. Abrams throws gasoline on the Rey fire

J.J. Abrams, the highly praised director of "Star Wars," caused a commotion last year at Tribeca when he claimed, "Rey’s parents are not in 'Episode VII.'" Abrams went on to claim that the consideration of who her parents are is indeed, "Something that Rey thinks about, too." Chaos broke out online almost immediately after those comments and arguments abounded as to the possible characters we know and the possibility they could be Rey's mother and father. The usual primary suspects in the argument almost always seem to come down to Leia, Luke and Han.

The secondary argument tossed around is that Rey is the daughter of "Star Wars Rebels" character Sabine Wren or possibly related to "Rogue One" character Jyn Erso. The Erso theory is particularly troublesome now that "Rogue One" has been released and we now know that, spoiler alert, she dies in the end of the film in a spectacular ball of fire.

Will the real Ben Solo please stand up

Kylo Ren, as everyone now knows, is the son of Princess Leia and Han Solo. Before turning to the dark side in an act that mimics his grandfather, Darth Vader, Ben Solo was supposed to head down a path of the light side like his namesake, Obi-Wan Kenobi, otherwise known to many as Old Ben.

Meanwhile, after dropping the previous information bomb, Abrams later communicated to Entertainment Weekly, "What I meant was that she (Rey) doesn’t discover them in Episode VII. Not that they may not already be in her world." This didn't clear anything up and in fact, perhaps as designed, raised more questions about Rey's parents than it solved. To his credit, actor Josh Gad has been doing his best to get to the bottom of the situation and has been filming actress Daisy Ridley while bombarding her with questions about her character, Rey.

Is Rey part of the Skywalker legacy?

A key scene in "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" displays a ship departing Jakku while Rey is having a deep vision.

In the vision a young Rey watches a ship depart the planet while Unkar Plutt holds onto her arm. It's possible that this ship was owned and perhaps even piloted by the legendary Luke Skywalker. Conspiracy theorists and fans are quick to declare that a 1984 "Star Wars" comic book drawing depicts a strikingly similar Rebellion era shuttle craft that Skywalker piloted with crew member Braxas to the planet Solay. Some fans and critics claim this is conjecture, but others are certain that the ship that left Rey on Jakku looks remarkably like the ship Luke Skywalker piloted in the comic book. At this point only Unkar Plutt, the junk boss who Rey was left with on Jakku, or the mystic and wise Maz Kanata, the keeper of Skywalker's lightsaber, may know Rey's true heritage.

J.J. Abrams probably also knows who Rey's parents are but there seemingly aren't enough Republic credits in the galaxy to make him give up that information just yet. "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" hits theaters this December and perhaps this multi-year argument about Rey's parents can finally then be put to rest once and for all.
© ALL RIGHTS RESERVED