Star Wars: The Force Awakens may have been a J.J. Abrams joint, but apparently The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson had some significant influence. At least when it comes to the movie's final scene in which Rey encounters Luke Skywalker for the first time, Johnson wanted to make sure that one specific aspect was included that otherwise might not have been: R2-D2.
Johnson revealed to EW that he asked Abrams to put R2-D2 in that final journey to find Luke, since it probably would have been the newbie droid BB-8...
“Yes … The big [favor] was, I asked if R2 could come with Rey, and if BB-8 could stay behind with the Resistance,” Johnson says. “Originally it was BB-8 who went with Rey, which makes sense for the story in a way. But I asked, ‘Can you do me this solid and switch the droids?’”
It would have made sense to the storyline either way. Rey obviously has a closer connection to BB-8 having had adventures with him already, but R2-D2 has special significance to Skywalker. I think R2-D2's presence solidifies Rey will spend much of the film in training, just as the droid accompanied Luke through his Jedi training in The Empire Strikes Back.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens December 15th.
