J.J. Abrams left some big narrative holes for his predecessor, Rian Johnson, to fill when he shipped The Force Awakens off to theaters, questions like, “What’s up with Luke?” “Who is Snoke?” and “What’s the deal with Rey’s parents?” And while Johnson found satisfying answers for at least some of those queries—”Snoke who?”, right?—over the course of The Last Jedi, it wasn’t necessarily a simple process.
This is per a podcast interview the director recently gave to /Film, detailing some of the many ideas he apparently had for who Rey might ultimately turn out to be:
I honestly listed everything I could think of. Even awful possibilities where I said, “This is not what we’re going to do.” I mean the less silly one was, “Is she a clone?” Anything that’s a theory on Reddit now I guarantee was listed on that document.
One of the biggest potential options? Robo-Rey; joking about the headlines the anecdote was likely to provoke, Johnson noted that he briefly considered revealing that Daisy Ridley’s character was a super-advanced droid (with Force powers, and everything).
Ultimately, though, Johnson went with the choice that ultimately showed up in the film, forgoing legacies, clone babies, and robo-Jedi in favor of a welcome dose of anti-climax. (Still, we have to admit: Cyber-Rey would probably have kicked some ass in that big, flashy throne room fight.)