It’s the latest in a series of so-called missteps by toy makers. The main character of Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been left out of Star Wars Monopoly.
The game, which “works like the fast-dealing property trading game but with planets” according game-maker Hasbro’s website, comes with four playable character tokens: Finn, Luke Skywalker, Darth Vader and Kylo Ren – all of whom are male.
But Rey, a female character who dominates the movie, isn’t included in the board game.
It’s a slight some Twitter users are calling sexist and backwards using the hashtag #WheresRey.
The online discussion started late 2015 when action figures for the new installment of the major movie franchise popped up on store shelves and consumers noticed an alarming trend.
Rey isn’t the only female character left out of merchandising. Scarlett Johanssen’s character in The Avengers, Black Widow, was excluded from many box sets when the second installment of the film series came out in May, 2015.
Both films were blockbuster hits. Star Wars was broke nearly all of the box-office records and is now the fastest movie to gross $1 billion.
When asked about the discrepancy between the number of female action figures and male ones, officials at Disney (which produces both Star Wars and the Avengers franchises) told The Daily Beast that Rey and Phasma (a female Stormtrooper in the movie) feature prominently across hundreds of products, and are selling very well – and they are planning to produce more this month.
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“In many stores and e-commerce destinations, products featuring Rey are selling as quickly as retailers can restock shelves,” Disney’s Senior Vice President and Head of Licensing for Lucasfilm Paul Southern told the Daily Beast. “Fans will also be seeing a lot more of Rey with a new wave of product coming in January.”
Until those new toys come, consumers will likely continue to take to Twitter to vent their frustrations.
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