'Lost' Director J.J. Abrams Regrets Princess Leia & Rey Hug In 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens'

It's been three months since the seventh episode of George Lucas' space saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, hit theaters, and it might be safe at this point to start openly discussing theories behind the meaning of certain scenes. One of them, when General/Princess Leia hugs Rey, has been running wild in the months since the film's release -- but Lost director J.J. Abrams regrets shooting it.

Be warned: spoilers ahead.

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From afar, Leia (Carrie Fisher) felt it in the Force when Han Solo (Harrison Ford) was killed. After the rebellion destroys the Starkiller Base and she returns to the rebel base, the first thing Leia does is give a big hug to new character Rey (Daisy Ridley), who she hadn't even met at that point.

As Cinema Blend reported when the film first came out, this scene has spurred controversy on two different accounts: first, some think this means Leia knows there's a further (possibly family) connection between her and Rey; and, second, some others have said that Leia "snubbed" Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), Han Solo's best friend.

Abrams is currently promoting his latest producing project, 10 Cloverfield Lane, and he caught up with Slash Film, and the outlet asked why Leia had hugged Rey instead of Chewie in that key scene. The Force Awakens director explained that he now considered this scene "one of the mistakes" he made in the film, but that his original idea was that Chewbacca was focused on getting Finn (John Boyega) to the infirmary.

"I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey," Abrams explained. "The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other -- that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw onscreen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss."

In retrospect, Abrams also said that the moment felt "almost like a slight" because the famous Wookie was standing right there, though it was never the intention to bypass Chewbacca and his pain after his best friend's death.

Interestingly enough, Abrams' words still leave the "Rey is related to Leia" theory in the running!