Luke Skywalker’s part in Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been shrouded in mystery, but he is not forgotten, according to director J.J. Abrams.

Speaking with EW, Abrams compared Luke Skywalker to a mythical fairy tale figure that a generation of people may or may not have believed existed in the upcoming Star Wars sequel.

“It was the thing that struck me the hardest, which was the idea that doing a story that took place nearly 40 years after Jedi meant that there would be a generation for whom Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Leia would be as good as a myth,” Abrams said.

“They’d be as old and as mythic as the tale of King Arthur," he said. "They would be characters who they may have heard of, but maybe not. They’d be characters who they might believe existed, or just sounded like a fairy tale.”

Speaking about Rey (Daisy Ridley), who grew up as a scavenger on the desert world of Jakku, Abrams said someone “without a formal education or support system” like her could have heard anything about the Force, Jedi, or the heroes from the original Star Wars trilogy.

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“So the idea that someone like that would begin to learn that the Jedi were real, and that the Force exists, and that there’s a power in the universe that sounds fanciful but is actually possible, was an incredibly intriguing notion,” Abrams said, adding that ex-Stormtrooper Finn (John Boyega) wouldn’t think the myths behind someone like Han Solo would “feel as magical and mythical” because of how their history may have been presented to Stormtroopers.

Abrams again addressed Luke Skywalker’s lack of presence in the Star Wars: The Force Awakens movie poster as well, which he recently said was “no accident.”

“No one forgot about him!” he said. “We were hoping people would care, but there are a lot of things that are not on the poster, as busy as the poster is. Certainly Luke is a very important aspect of the story.”

In related The Force Awakens character news, Leia Organa is no longer known as Princess, preferring instead to be called General, and Andy Serkis, who stars as Supreme Leader Snoke, revealed the “enigmatic character” is both “strangely vulnerable” and “quite powerful”.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 18, but in the meantime, here are nine things you probably didn’t know about Luke Skywalker.