Summary

• Daisy Ridley's return to Star Wars as Rey is not surprising given her success in the franchise and the potential for new material to explore.
• Ridley's non-Star Wars projects have not been well-received, with muddled scripts and a lack of attention.
• Returning to Star Wars could revitalize Ridley's career and put her in the spotlight, potentially boosting her popularity and success.

Daisy Ridley is officially returning to the Star Wars universe as Rey, but the decision isn’t particularly surprising based on the movies she's made outside the franchise. Ridley made her debut appearance as Rey in The Force Awakens and transformed the character into a lovable protagonist. She became an undeniable highlight of the sequel trilogy and succeeded in earning roles in other movies.

The ending of The Rise of Skywalker finally confirmed Rey to be Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter. Not only did this end her story in the Skywalker Saga, but it gave new Star Wars movies something to work with if Ridley were to ever return. And now, it's confirmed that the actress will indeed reprise his role. The new film, Star Wars: New Jedi Order, is going to be set fifteen years after the conclusion of The Rise of Skywalker, so there’ll be plenty of new material that it can deal with in order to stay fresh. Hopefully, it should be a great opportunity to put Daisy Ridley back in the spotlight and make audiences forget about the many disappointments in her post-Star Wars filmography.

Daisy Ridley Hasn't Had Much Success With Non-Star Wars Movies

Audiences really don’t have to look very far to see that Ridley’s projects in recent years haven’t been received positively. The actress’ first blockbuster after her Star Wars success was Chaos Walking alongside Tom Holland, which easily should’ve been a success given the star power attached to the project, but the script ultimately let it down and left the story muddled and forgettable. Not to mention, the movie was also released during the COVID-19 pandemic and consequently failed to draw more than $13.2 million in the United States (via Box Office Mojo).

From there, Ridley starred in Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway and The Marsh King’s Daughter, both of which fell under the radar and didn’t gather much attention upon their respective releases. That’s not to say that Ridley isn’t good in these projects, but the actress has just been unable to find the right material to allow her to shine. It’s for this reason that audiences weren’t surprised when it was revealed that Ridley was returning to Star Wars for a new project - as a franchise that has been a proven success for the actress, it makes sense for a new Star Wars project to be Ridley's next move.

Daisy Ridley's Star Wars Return Can Help Revitalize Her Career

If everything goes well, Ridley’s return to Star Wars could finally give her career the boost it needs to finally thrive. The actress’ roles since ending Rey’s story in The Rise of Skywalker have been sadly unable to capture that same magic that made Rey so popular, but another turn as Rey could help resolve this issue. Despite being the protagonist of the sequel trilogy, Ridley was never really billed as the main selling point of these movies - it was the history of the franchise that got audiences in seats. However, now that Daisy Ridley is going to be the real focus of a Star Wars project, it could easily place her in the spotlight and give her the attention she deserved for playing Rey in the first place.

Star Wars: New Jedi Order is currently set for release in Summer 2026.