This article is over 3 years old 
 
 A new edition of the board game for The Force Awakens includes Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader tokens – with the notable absence of Rey, the film’s lead 
 
 She has been embraced by fans as this generation’s new film hero, but in the most recent release of the Star Wars Monopoly game, Rey is nowhere to be seen. 
 
 Instead, the game released by Disney and Hasbro features the four character tokens of Finn, Kylo Ren, Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader. It is the latest in a line of official merchandise that has drawn ire for prioritising less prominent male characters over Rey. 
 
 Mike Caulfield (@holden) Someone seems to be missing in Star Wars Monopoly. Unbelievable. #whereisrey pic.twitter.com/NKceWEKVbZ 
 
 Fans have complained about Star Wars Monopoly’s inclusion of Darth Vader, who does not feature in the latest film, at the exclusion of the saga’s newest possible Jedi Knight. The Hasbro website states the game includes “2 Rebel, 2 Empire” character tokens, and draws from the Star Wars “legacy”, along with the latest film. 
 
 Star Wars is a game-changer, awakening the feminist force in little girls everywhere Read more 
 
 Rey, played by Daisy Ridley, is a central character in the latest chapter of the Star Wars film franchise, The Force Awakens, which hit the $1.5bn (£1.01bn) mark at the global box office this weekend. 
 
 The scavenger from Jakku, Rey is also a keen pilot that mans and repairs the film series’s star vehicle, the Millennium Falcon. However, the release of Hasbro’s toy version of the vehicle was accompanied by a Chewbacca figurine, as well as Finn and droid BB-8 (neither of whom pilot the ship) and not a Rey in sight. 
 
 Alex M Langenfeld (@CorporateMalice) Rey is the new pilot of the millennium falcon, but the soccer ball gets more love. Come on #StarWars #WheresRey pic.twitter.com/YK34eA3xYf 
 
 A Star Wars figurine pack released by Target also failed to include Rey or other new female Star Wars characters such as Captain Phasma, played by Gwendoline Christie. The six featured characters are Kylo Ren, Chewbacca, Finn, Poe Dameron, a Stormtrooper and a TIE Fighter pilot. 
 
 Jamie Ford (@JamieFord) Avengers set - no Black Widow Guardians set - no Gamora Star Wars - no Rey. She's THE MAIN CHARACTER. #WheresRey pic.twitter.com/TvYUeiA49o 
 
 A trending hashtag #WheresRey has been charting the absence of Rey from chain store shelves selling the film’s official merchandise. 
 
 In an interview with The Daily Beast, Disney promised that the unmet demand for Rey merchandise will be addressed with a release of toy lines in January. 
 
 In a warehouse far, far away, the galaxy's top Star Wars collector holds court Read more 
 
 “Rey and Phasma feature prominently across hundreds of products, and are selling exceptionally well,” Disney’s senior vice president and head of licensing for Lucasfilm, Paul Southern, said. 
 
 “In many stores and e-commerce destinations, products featuring Rey are selling as quickly as retailers can restock shelves. Fans will also be seeing a lot more of Rey with a new wave of product coming in January.” 
 
 Other recent action films, including Avengers and Guardians of the Galaxy, have come under fire for toy lines that focused on male characters. In April Mark Ruffalo, who plays the Hulk in the Avengers film, tweeted “@Marvel we need more #BlackWidow merchandise for my daughters and nieces. Pretty please.” ||||| type Movie Current Status In Season Wide Release Date 12/18/15 performer Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher director J.J. Abrams genre Sci-fi and Fantasy 
 
 Star Wars: The Force Awakens may revolve around the disappearance of Luke Skywalker, but some fans of the space fantasy are up in arms over the absence of another character — Daisy Ridley’s Rey. 
 
 Although the plucky young space scavenger is the undisputed protagonist of The Force Awakens, she’s conspicuously missing from some tie-in merchandise, including a new Star Wars-themed Monopoly game. 
 
 RELATED: See Decades of Star Wars Mania, Then and Now 
 
 According to a description on the Hasbro website, the game features four player tokens, all of whom are male characters: John Boyega’s Finn, Mark Hamill’s Luke, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, and Darth Vader (who doesn’t appear in The Force Awakens). 
 
 In recent weeks, Star Wars fans have been vocal about an apparent lack of Rey tie-in toys, spawning hashtags such as #WheresRey and #WhereIsRey. (Last summer, Marvel fans — and even a prominent Marvel actor — similarly complained about Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow being shut out of Avengers merch.) 
 
 RELATED: Star Wars: The Force Awakens: An Exclusive EW Gallery of New Photos 
 
 Reached for comment, a Hasbro spokesperson said in a statement to EW, “The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance.” 
 
 The spokesperson added that Rey is featured in several Hasbro games, including Hands Down, Guess Who, and chess, and that “fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6-inch and 12-inch Rey action figures. We are thrilled with the popularity of this compelling character and will continue to look for ways to showcase Rey across all of our product lines.” 
 
 Hasbro 
 
 This post has been updated to include comment from Hasbro. ||||| EQUALITY 
 
 Despite being the lead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Rey is mysteriously absent from many toy sets—echoing past concerns regarding Disney characters Black Widow and Gamora. 
 
 UPDATE, 1/5/2016: Hasbro released a statement Tuesday addressing Rey's absence in the Star Wars: Monopoly game, writing that she was not included for fear of "spoilers" and revealing "a key plot line in that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance." The company also said "fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6-inch and 12-inch Rey action figures." 
 
 Now that fans have flocked to the new Star Wars flick to the tune of a record-breaking $247 million opening weekend, a disgruntled hashtag has been awoken, sending a disturbance into the Force’s franchising prospects right before the last-minute holiday buying frenzy. 
 
 The #WheresRey hashtag first trended over a month ago when Star Wars fans noticed a shocking lack of Daisy Ridley in Disney’s onslaught of The Force Awakens merchandising. The hashtag took aim at the glaring lack of Ridley’s Jakku scavenger heroine Rey from a Target exclusive toy six-pack that included her three new male co-stars John Boyega (as Finn), Oscar Isaac (as Poe Dameron), and Adam Driver (as the Sith junior lord Kylo Ren) alongside Chewbacca, an unnamed Storm Trooper, and an unnamed First Order pilot. 
 
 Last weekend audiences across the globe finally saw The Force Awakens in all its glory, following months of tight-lipped Disney secrecy surrounding its plot and characters. The mystery was so thick, the studio didn’t even screen The Force Awakens for press before taking cast and crew on an international media tour—secrecy Abrams & Co. said was in place to save the surprises for the fans. And one of the biggest surprises in store for fans was Rey, the most refreshing heroine to hit the franchise since Carrie Fisher’s Princess Leia. 
 
 Rey is strong, intelligent, and kind, a skilled natural engineer so adept with machinery that she fixes every mechanical malfunction she sees, from BB-8’s bent antenna to the “garbage” ship she and Finn hijack when the First Order attacks on Jakku. Watch the film and you quickly learn that Finn, played charmingly by Boyega, is not the hero of The Force Awakens. 
 
 Sure, he gamely swings a lightsaber, thanks to his stormtrooper training. But it’s Rey, not Finn, who fixes the rickety Millennium Falcon. It’s Rey who skillfully pilots them to safety, outwitting a pair of First Order TIE-fighters with ingenuity and a natural talent for flight when Finn’s gun jams. And it’s Rey, not Finn or BB-8 or Poe Dameron or Kylo Ren, who earns respect and a job offer from the most famous smuggler in the galaxy. 
 
 As disappointing as it was to see Rey left out of the Target six-pack of The Force Awakens figures, it came as an even bigger shock when fans discovered Hasbro’s popular Star Wars: The Force Awakens Battle Action Millennium Falcon set (retail: $139.95) comes with a light-up Millennium Falcon, a BB-8, a Finn, a Chewbacca…and no Rey. 
 
 “Command the Millennium Falcon and strike against the formidable power of the First Order,” reads the Hasbro product description, accompanied by the image of a young boy playing with the set. “Imagine its amazing stealth as it dodges asteroids and blasts enemies. Its movie-accurate decoration helps capture the excitement of the latest saga.” 
 
 The omission of Rey from the Millennium Falcon—the ship that she flies in several key Force Awakens scenes—drew sharp criticism from fans. It reminded them too well of how Star Wars studio Disney similarly treated Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow this year in its male-centric rollout of Avengers toys. Despite playing a crucial role in the Avengers team of superheroes, Black Widow was included in only a fraction of Disney and Marvel’s official merchandising. 
 
 More problematically, like Rey, Black Widow was rewritten out of her out of her own scene in Age of Ultron products depicting her motorcycle-flying sequence, replaced by Captain America and Iron Man. Toy partner Hasbro did the same to Gamora, the lone female hero of Guardians of the Galaxy, who could only be found on a handful of officially licensed items despite the fact that 44 percent of the Marvel ensemble’s opening weekend audience were female. 
 
 Mark Ruffalo, who plays Dr. Bruce Banner/The Hulk in the Avengers film, publicly called out Marvel for the mishap, tweeting, “Marvel, we need more #BlackWidow merchandise for my daughters and nieces. Pretty please.” 
 
 
 
 “It’s frustrating and stuff, and it bums me out,” added Guardians director James Gunn of the Gamora toy snafu. “I had a big conversation about this yesterday with one of my producers at Marvel about trying to make sure, especially, that Gamora is represented more in [merchandise] and all the Guardians toys.” 
 
 But the difference between Age of Ultron, Guardians of the Galaxy, and The Force Awakens is that in the Star Wars sequel Rey isn’t just one member of an ensemble of heroes: She’s literally the lead character. 
 
 Played charmingly by newcomer Ridley, Rey isn’t just The Force Awakens’ new heroine; she’s the heir apparent to both Luke and Leia, the one whose destiny, Episode VII reveals, will lead Star Wars into the future. Even Boyega said he related most to Rey, the true Chosen One of The Force Awakens. 
 
 “To be in a circumstance where you have to find something bigger than who you are within yourself is something that is an inspiration to me,” he said this month, talking about Ridley’s character. “I think people take that away. The kids, all they’re going to be concentrating on is BB-8.” 
 
 Get The Beast In Your Inbox! Daily Digest Start and finish your day with the top stories from The Daily Beast. Cheat Sheet A speedy, smart summary of all the news you need to know (and nothing you don't). By clicking "Subscribe," you agree to have read the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy Subscribe Thank You! You are now subscribed to the Daily Digest and Cheat Sheet. We will not share your email with anyone for any reason 
 
 Boyega was right. Kids (and adults) are nuts for BB-8, one of The Force Awakens’ most beloved new discoveries. They’re also crazy for Rey, even if it’s proven challenging to find figures, toys, and other merch in her image. 
 
 Sadly, Disney’s corporate partners didn’t seem get the memo that the rebooted Star Wars is supposed to represent a brave new progressive future for the franchise. The misconception that Star Wars is for boys still dominates the toy industry, Global Toy Experts’ Richard Gottlieb told The Wrap. “I can say that there is, in the toy and movie industry, a long-standing belief that a boy will not go to a ‘girl’ movie and that if you put a girl in a boy’s toy, boys will not buy it,” he said. 
 
 Abrams himself landed in a pickle when he echoed that dated way of thinking. “Star Wars was always about…it was always a boys thing and a movie that dads take their sons to,” he said. “And though that’s still very much the case, I was really hoping that this could be a movie that mothers can take their daughters to as well." 
 
 Well, it is. And Disney, Hasbro, and their retail partners have been caught slipping. According to one of Disney’s biggest retail partners, fans will soon get an answer to their #WheresRey demand—but not until after Christmas. “We expect fans to see more of her as new products roll out, now that the film has been released,” Target spokesperson Lee Henderson told The Daily Beast. “We don’t want to spoil any surprises, but fans will start to see more of her in 2016.” 
 
 Responding to the Daily Beast’s request for comment, Disney promised that new Rey merch will fly onto shelves next month. 
 
 "Rey and Phasma feature prominently across hundreds of products, and are selling exceptionally well," Disney's Senior Vice President and Head of Licensing for Lucasfilm Paul Southern told The Daily Beast Wednesday. "In many stores and e-commerce destinations, products featuring Rey are selling as quickly as retailers can restock shelves. Fans will also be seeing a lot more of Rey with a new wave of product coming in January." 
 
 According to a Disney rep, the company started making efforts to expand its licensed Star Wars offerings beyond traditionally boy-targeted toy lines when it acquired Lucasfilm. That means creating more female-skewing items like home and apparel products aimed at women and girls that feature The Force Awakens' Rey and Captain Phasma, two fierce characters who have already proven popular with fans. 
 
 A source tells me that one explanation for the relative absence of female characters in Force Awakens action figure merchandising is that, with a development process that can take up to 18 months to complete, some products were necessarily approved and planned before others. Rey's "look," according to said source, was not ready in time to be included in teh Millennium Falcon set that sparked outrage among some fans. 
 
 One might argue that Disney deliberately kept its Rey products shrouded in am Abrams-esque mystery box of secrecy, so as to avoid spoiling the movie for fans. But that doesn't explain why Finn would be piloting the Millennium Falcom in Hasbro's toy set, something that doesn't happen in the film. Or why all those shelves being restocked as fast as retailers can get their hands on new Rey products were better stocked with Rey figures to begin with.
– A certain female protagonist of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is missing from some of the toys related to the movie, leading fans to wonder #WhereIsRey on Twitter, Entertainment Weekly reports. Daisy Ridley's character—arguably the main hero or at least one of the main heroes of the new movie—is not a token in Hasbro's new Star Wars Monopoly game, which instead offers players the chance to play as John Boyega’s Finn, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren ... or Darth Vader, who doesn't actually appear in the new film. Hasbro's response to the outcry—beware, spoilers ahead: "The Star Wars: Monopoly game was released in September, months before the movie’s release, and Rey was not included to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance," a spokesperson says in a statement, adding that Rey is included in other Star Wars-themed games the company has released. But, as the Guardian reports, Rey is notably absent from other toys, including a toy version of the Millennium Falcon that includes figurines of Chewbacca, Finn, and BB-8 (the latter two never pilot the ship, while Rey does). A Disney rep told the Daily Beast in December that Rey will feature more prominently in toys released this month.