Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi became the most divisive and controversial entry in the entire 40-year history of the franchise when it hit theaters two years ago, with many fans taking great exception to the filmmaker’s frequent diversions to the established canon. When the dust had settled, even mentioning Johnson’s name was enough to set certain sections of the fanbase off on a rant.
Even Mark Hamill had been vocally critical of how the movie handled Luke, but it was one of the new characters introduced in The Last Jedi that was targeted for some of the worst online vitriol. Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico made her franchise debut in the eighth installment as a mechanic in the Resistance, and became the subject of a hate campaign from the most toxic section of the Star Wars community, so much so that her co-stars publicly addressed the matter in interviews, while Tran herself deactivated her social media accounts in the wake of the abuse.
Rose had been conspicuously absent from the majority of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s marketing materials so far, but after appearing in the recently-released final trailer, fans took to social media to voice their support of the character and the important role she looks set to play in the upcoming ninth installment.
The .5 seconds of Rose Tico exposure in the trailer added 15 years to my life
— keiry 🧸 (@KeiryJasmin) October 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/PatrickCrossen/status/1186467033002713088?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186467033002713088&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fstarwars%2F2019%2F10%2F22%2Fstar-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-rose-tico-fan-reactions%2F
COMMANDER ROSE TICO!! I AM NOY CRYING!! YOU ARE!! 😭😭😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/VFNN1PjcP8
— แป้งร่ำห้ามตายอยู่เจอคุณเฮย์ก่อน (@PreenBANANA) October 22, 2019
https://twitter.com/blacksquadrons/status/1186465768046678016?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186465768046678016&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fstarwars%2F2019%2F10%2F22%2Fstar-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-rose-tico-fan-reactions%2F
https://twitter.com/daisyhoIland/status/1186464886513160192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1186464886513160192&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcomicbook.com%2Fstarwars%2F2019%2F10%2F22%2Fstar-wars-the-rise-of-skywalker-rose-tico-fan-reactions%2F
Rose Tico this lightsaber and this franchise belongs to you now
— Pugmane🐾 🐛 🥫 (@pugmane) October 22, 2019
This is all I'm gonna be talking about forever i love you JJ i would've gone insane if she wasn't in it pic.twitter.com/5gwSdKSXHz
— I am the spy for Disney (@LalalaIb) October 22, 2019
So, it looks like Commander Rose Tico figures to be a key player in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s narrative, and while there’s obviously going to be some online trolls that won’t be happy about it, it would be the wrong decision for Disney and Lucasfilm to sideline her entirely simply because people didn’t care for the character and let their feelings be known on internet message boards.
Published: Oct 22, 2019 12:59 pm