Star Wars: The Force Awakens Monopoly board shuns female lead Rey for smaller male characters

Rey has repeatedly been sidelined for smaller male characters in Star Wars merchandise

(Star Wars: The Force Awakens' Rey)

Star Wars fans have been left baffled by the omission of major character Rey from a new edition of the official themed Monopoly board.

Update: Rey to be added to Star Wars Monopoly

The popular game has been given a makeover by Disney and Hasbro following the record-breaking release of The Force Awakens in December.

It features tokens for male characters Finn, Luke Skywalker, Kylo Ren and Darth Vader but female lead Rey, played by newcomer Daisy Ridley and widely considered the movie’s hero, is nowhere to be seen.

Fans have been tweeting about Rey’s absence from Monopoly using the hashtag #WheresRey and angrily noting that Darth Vader does not even appear in the latest film.

The most brilliant, fuming response came from an 8-year-old girl who wrote the following letter to Hasbro:

Hasbro has issued a statement responding to the controversy, insisting that the game was released in September and deliberately left out Rey “to avoid revealing a key plot line that she takes on Kylo Ren and joins the Rebel Alliance”.

The company states that Rey features in other Star Wars games including Hands Down, Guess Who and Chess. “Fans will see more Rey product hitting store shelves this month, including 6” and 12” Rey action figures,” the statement continued.

“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.”

Star Wars merchandise has drawn heavy criticism for seemingly highlighting small male characters over Rey, who didn’t even make it into Max Factor’s Star Wars Look Collection cosmetics ad. She was previously excluded from toy sets sold by Toys R Us and Target.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens passed the $1.5 billion milestone at the worldwide box office last weekend and is on track to be named the biggest film of all-time.