The Token Heroine May Endure in 'Star Wars: Episode VII'

Star Wars: Episode II
Star Wars: Episode II

There’s a tired formula to ensemble action-fantasy films that hasn’t really changed since the first “Star Wars” came out in 1977 when a gun-wielding Princess Leia, along with her intergalactic comrades, took cineplexes by storm.

With the lead cast announced for “Star Wars: Episode VII,” it’s becoming clear we have another token inner-circle heroine to look forward to in newcomer British actress Daisy Ridley (and maybe one more leading lady, according to The Hollywood Reporter). Unless Carrie Fisher winds up getting loads of screen time and starts wielding a lightsaber, it looks like Ridley may be our “Star Wars” ‘it’ girl in more ways than one.

[Related: Who’s Who and What’s What in the ‘Star Wars’ Casting Pic]

It’s nothing new to see the one girl among a male-heavy hero-clique. We saw it in “The Avengers” with Russian spy Black Widow, and again in “The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug” with sharp shooting, pointy-eared Tauriel. Then there’s Wyldstyle in “The Lego Movie,” Hermione in the “Harry Potter” series, Ariadne in “Inception,” and Elizabeth Swann in the “Pirates of the Caribbean” movies.

Inception
Inception

Add to that non-blockbusters like “The Expendables,” which made room on its man-packed team for one lady in its sequel and another in its upcoming third film, and “300: Rise of an Empire“‘s Artimisia, who is the lead villain, and the list goes on.

[Related: 'Star Wars: Episode VII' Cast Announced]

Surprisingly, JJ Abrams, known for raising the lady action hero bar in his TV show “Lost,” follows the lone lady formula a lot: All of the “Mission Impossible” films, one of which the “Episode VII” helmer directed, feature one nimble woman in the protagonist inner circle, and his “Star Trek” reboots, following suit with the TV show, have only one woman, Uhura, working inside the Enterprise’s inner sanctum — the bridge.

Star Trek
Star Trek

On the other side of the coin, the success of female-at-the-helm group heroics stands proud in recent hits like “The Hunger Games,” “Divergent,” “Frozen” (albeit animated), and even the winning formula in the “Fast & Furious” franchise — which is diverse all around.

With these women-led wins, some of which took Hollywood by surprise, you’d think execs would have followed the money trail by now.

But the powers that be behind “Star Wars” seem reticent to break free of the one-heroine rule — a blueprint also adhered to in the prequel trilogy with Princess Padmé, played by Natalie Portman, keeping the flame of sisterhood alive all by herself.