Oh no, Hasbro.
Now why you gotta go and do that?
In the latest edition of Hasbro’s popular Monopoly board game, featuring the recently released “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” film, one of the lead characters has apparently been “forgotten”.
Fans have taken note that while there are Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker, and even Darth Vader tokens, Rey is absent from the lot.
But why?!
“Star Wars” followers then went on to complain about Hasbro’s decision to include Darth Vader, who is not featured in “The Force Awakens” whereas Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) is a central character in “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”. These fans have even taken to Twitter to express their utter disbelief under the #WheresRey hashtag.
We’ll tell you one thing – these people (from every single “walk of life” that you can ever fathom”) mean business.
Rey isn't the main female character in #StarWarsTheForceAwakens; she's the main character. #WheresRey
— Lachlan Shield (@ldshield) December 28, 2015
#StarWars monopoly game is now available for sale – but #WheresRey @AmazonUK @Hasbro ? @HasbroNews pic.twitter.com/nBUcHX9Zls
— Let Toys Be Toys (@LetToysBeToys) January 3, 2016
Re: #WheresRey. It's not just that little girls need to see that girls can be heroes, it's also that little boys need that message, too.
— Derek Bruff (@derekbruff) January 5, 2016
https://twitter.com/CassideeMoser/status/684144685921644544
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#WheresRey ??!! She was the best character in the whole damn movie!!!
— Josh Newham (@WorthwhileJones) December 28, 2015
Speaking to EW, Hasbro explained that the reason they couldn’t include Rey in the game was because of potential spoilers.
“The Star Wars Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release,” the company’s statement read. “Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance.”
Still, fans were not biting, arguing that Rey is the main character and damn well deserves a spot in the game.
Heck, we agree! Girl power and all that, you know? Besides, not that we have anything against BB-8 because we think he’s absolutely adorable, but..where’s Rey?
As such, Hasbro has taken to their Twitter account to say that it loved the “passion for Rey,” and would be including her in the box later this year.
.@CarrieMGoldman @JillPantozzi @Epbot pic.twitter.com/IQ5TNbOygW
— Hasbro (@Hasbro) January 6, 2016
It is not known when she will be added or if she’ll be replacing any of the existing tokens already included in the “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” Monopoly edition but phew, joy to the world!
UPDATE (15th February, 9am):
At this year’s annual Toy Fair in New York City, Hasbro showed off a new piece for its next versions of “Monopoly: Star Wars”. Yes, the company has finally made good on its promise following the criticism it faced when fans found that the Rey figure was missing from the “Star Wars” board game.
There she is :)
Hasbro plans to start shipping the new versions of “Monopoly: Star Wars” before the year ends. Take our money!
Sources: The Guardian, EW, The Verge (1), Polygon, Hasbro’s Twitter, The Verge (2).
