Hasbro to Add Rey Game Piece to The Force Awakens Edition of Monopoly
Via CNN.com:
It was just one item among the many, many pieces of “Star Wars” merchandise, but it caused a big uproar on social media.
The latest edition of “Star Wars” Monopoly, which includes two game pieces from the light side and two from the dark side of the Force, set off the hashtag #wheresrey over the past few days.
The two characters used to represent the light side were Luke Skywalker, naturally, and Finn from the latest installment, “The Force Awakens.”
In something of a twist, however, it’s Rey who emerges as the hero of the film after Finn is defeated in a lightsaber battle by Kylo Ren (who is one of the dark side game pieces with Darth Vader).
The absence of Rey in the game was a controversy started by Jenna Busch, founder of the fan group “Legion of Leia,” and her friend Carrie Goldman followed suit using the hashtag.
“When [Goldman’s daughter] Annie Rose became outraged that Rey was not included in Star Wars Monopoly, it was a no-brainer for me to include the hashtag of #WheresRey when I tweeted Annie Rose’s letter to Hasbro,” she said
At that point, the movement really gained steam on social media, gaining support from, among others, “Twilight” director Catherine Hardwicke and “Star Trek” actress Chase Masterson. This all prompted a response from Hasbro on Monday.
“We were surprised and happy that Hasbro was engaging in the dialogue with us,” said Goldman, who has been something of a “Star Wars” and diversity activist over the past few years, along with her children.
Hasbro explained that she was not included to avoid spoiling that she ultimately faces off with Kylo Ren (the trailers implied that Finn was the ultimate hero of the story).
“It was very evident that [director] J.J. Abrams and Lucasfilm were doing everything possible to make sure that no spoilers were released in any shape or form,” said E.V. Kwun of Sonsofgeekery.com.
“For example, there were figures that were released at the Disney Store that didn’t include specific accessories due to it revealing major plot points in the film,” but updated figures are starting to appear on shelves.
“Their initial response wasn’t satisfying to us, but we wanted to keep a respectful discussion going,” said Goldman.
By Tuesday night, Hasbro announced that Rey would be included in the next edition of “Star Wars” Monopoly.
“You can ask Hasbro why they didn’t just hold off on releasing the Monopoly set until after the film release, but of course, the answer is that there was pressure to put as much ‘Star Wars’ product on the shelves for the Christmas shopping seasons,” Kwun explained.
This article can be read in its entirety on CNN.com.
