SPOILER ALERT: The following article reveals plot points of Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Update: Yesterday Hasbro tweeted the following:
So the fans will be getting Rey, as they should!
Original Article
The new Star Wars edition of Monopoly by Hasbro Gaming has stirred up some controversy. The game includes four figures; Darth Vader, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Luke Skywalker. The game appears to feature generic Star Wars branding and is not specifically tied to Star Wars: The Force Awakens with two characters from the original trilogy and two from the new film. When players discovered that the center character of the new film, Rey, was not included it started a #WhereIsRey movement on social media.
Previously, Disney and Hasbro has been criticized for a lack of Black Widow and Gamora merchandise from their Marvel franchise due to the important roles they play in the films.
Hasbro released a statement on the controversy: “The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance. Rey is featured in the following Star Wars games: Hands Down, Guess Who and Chess as well as our 6” Black Series figures, 3 3/4” Figures and Vehicles, Black Series Titanium and Micromachines. Additionally, fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6″ and 12″ Rey action figures. We are thrilled with the popularity of this compelling character and will continue to look for ways to showcase Rey across all of our product lines.”
Of course this statement only addresses one question. We still do not know why this version of Monopoly features four character tokens when the traditional version includes 8, thus limiting the number of potential players by half.