Rian Johnson Asked JJ Abrams To Make This Big Change To The 'Force Awakens' Ending

Rian Johnson came on board to direct the eighth installment of the Skywalker saga a couple of months after JJ Abrams began filming Star Wars: The Force Awakens. We've heard that Johnson gave Abrams some notes on the work in progress, and it turns out one of the notes was a request to make a change to the Force Awakens ending.Rian Johnson tells Entertainment Weekly that he had one big request for JJ Abrams regarding a change to the ending of Star Wars: The Force Awakens:

"Yes ... The big [favor] was, I asked if R2 could come with Rey, and if BB-8 could stay behind with the Resistance. 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?'"

This is interesting, as I've commented many times that I was disappointed that BB-8 was left with Poe at the Resistance base because it meant that Rey would not get to adventure with the little ball bot in the eighth installment. Of course, now we know this is part of Johnson's grand plan.

And I'm sure some of you are already speculating why Johnson would want to leave Rey and Luke Skywalker with R2-D2 instead of BB-8. I know I am! Obviously, R2 has been a droid of Luke Skywalker and his father before him, so it makes sense to have him back with Luke or perhaps with Skywalker's child. But it seems to me that Rian's request is not about the symmetry of the franchise relationships but perhaps a bigger story reason.

Perhaps R2-D2 has some data for Luke, or maybe he thinks that BB-8 will complement Poe Dameron's adventure in  The Last Jedi more than Rey and Luke's journey.  One thing is for sure: BB-8 would have had a hell of a time climbing the steps on Ach-To.

Anyone have any good theories as to why Rian Johnson wanted the droids swapped out? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!