The hero of a generation is set to make her return as Daisy Ridley is confirmed to star in a new Star Wars movie as Rey Skywalker. The news came along with many other announcements during Star Wars Celebration, but there were already a few rumors making the rounds on the internet for a few months, especially after Ridley revealed on social media a visit to the LucasFilm headquarters last December. Back then, she promised “nothing saucy” was happening, but fans did feel a disturbance in the Force. Now, it’s official, and it’s also the best thing that the franchise could have done.

It doesn’t matter if you liked The Rise of Skywalker or the Star Wars sequel trilogy as a whole. The fact remains that the trilogy exists and is part of the established canon, so there’s no use in criticism for its own sake, and Ridley’s work is one of the best things about those movies. Not only did Rey have to deal with the flawed legacy of the Jedi embodied in her master, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), but Ridley herself had to endure a lot of harsh criticism of the trilogy, so it’s only fair that she be the one to lead Star Wars back to its glory days in the theater.

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The Galaxy Still Needs the Jedi

Image via Lucasfilm

The situation with the rise of the First Order and destruction of the New Republic in The Force Awakens was dire. The new fascist regime threatened to rapidly conquer all the galaxy, and the return of the Jedi seemed to be the only hope against the rising tyranny. We all know how that worked out in the end. The new Star Wars movie, as announced during Star Wars Celebration this week, will be written by Steven Knight and directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, both coming in fresh to make their debuts in Star Wars. We don’t know what they have in store for us yet, only that it will be set 15 years after The Rise of Skywalker, with Rey setting up a new Jedi Order.

Still, it’s safe to say that the Jedi are needed more than ever. For the first time in millennia, the galaxy is a “blank slate” with no political regime installed, nor any military institutions to guard it. It’s the first time something actually new can be done, both on and off-screen.

The Jedi have always been known as the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, and, prior to the Clone Wars, were the only institution to provide aid to member planets of the Old Republic, although only through diplomatic negotiations (officially, at least). After the fall of the Empire, the New Republic extinguished its military, and there were no Jedi anymore, so systems were mostly on their own. Now, there will be a fledgling Jedi Order, but with no political system to support it — they will be mostly on their own to protect the galaxy and keep systems from destroying one another. That will be one hell of a task for Rey, especially because it will all be on her shoulders.

The Jedi Need Daisy Ridley’s Rey

Image via Lucasfilm

Let’s face it — the Jedi were never an easy bunch to deal with. Prior to the Clone Wars, they were extremely rigid in their ways, and barely tolerated those in their ranks who strayed even a little bit. Members like Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson), who dared think outside the Jedi box, were treated as mavericks, and, in the end, this dogmatic approach drove bright young students away from the Order, like Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson). Once the Empire fell, it was up to Luke Skywalker to build it all over again, until he understood why they fell and decided the galaxy was better off without them.

In The Rise of Skywalker, Luke admits to Rey that he was wrong. Seeing their childhood idol so flawed and vulnerable left many fans angry, but Luke himself was never a very assertive person. He was always looking for reasons not to do things — not to help Ben Kenobi (Alec Guinness) when adventure called, not to finish his training with Yoda (Frank Oz) on Dagobah, not to fight Darth Vader (James Earl Jones) a second time. He was right on the latter occasion, but that was the exception to the rule he set himself. He was the right person to save the galaxy and become the legend to inspire it, but never to rebuild anything. It was never his thing.

Rey, on the other hand, was always the “anti-Luke,” so to speak. She’s optimistic, learned how to fight and survive by herself growing up on Jakku, and knows how to fix or build things from scratch after a lifetime of scavenging old Imperial tech. Growing up alone in an endless desert made her see the beauty in the galaxy beyond that. She learned the basic lessons and philosophy from Luke on Ahch-To, and now can bring in fresh ideas to the Order, something that he never could — he had too much influence from past icons of the Jedi. Rey also knew the Jedi’s flaws firsthand with Luke and Kylo (Adam Driver), and knows the potential for good in a new generation with Force-sensitive people like Finn (John Boyega).

Star Wars Needs Daisy Ridley

Image via Lucasfilm

Ever since The Rise of Skywalker came out, Star Wars has been having trouble with its movies — turmoil engulfed nearly every project announced. That’s mostly because the backlash to the last three movies released was so widespread, no one dared to touch the franchise. Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s movie, for example, had Damon Lindelof as a writer, who left the project precisely because of the pressure the Star Wars franchise evokes. And, honestly, who can blame him after all the harassment the cast and crew of these movies have been through?

Daisy Ridley herself has been through a lot during her first tenure as Rey, to the point of leaving social media altogether and only recently coming back. People criticized the actor and character without distinguishing between them. Another person who has been under attack pretty much since taking over Lucasfilm in 2012 — appointed by George Lucas himself — is Kathleen Kennedy. Being one of Hollywood’s greatest filmmakers ever, she also didn’t deserve all that she’s been put through in terms of backlash. Honestly, her coming forward with a movie about Rey and bringing Daisy Ridley back is a bold and brave move on Kennedy’s part, the kind we desperately needed in her leadership.

It’s been nearly four years since the Skywalker Saga concluded in theaters, which is more than enough time for nerves to calm and for people to learn how to behave on the internet. The moment now calls for celebration, because it’s not every franchise that has an actor as talented and as bright as Ridley as a lead. Rey was always going to be the future of Star Wars. She’s risen as a Skywalker worthy of the name, and it’s time she takes her place next to the legends of this galaxy.