J.j. Abrams reveals his big leia mistake in star wars: The force awakens

Director J.J. Abrams has opened up about what he thinks is "one of the mistakes" he made in Star Wars: The Force Awakens and it involves General Leia Organa and Chewbacca.

Obviously, SPOILERS ahead if you're one of the fraction of people online who have not yet seen Force Awakens.

Still here? OK, here goes.

When asked about why Leia didn't hug Chewbacca after Han Solo's death -- opting to embrace Rey, a complete stranger, instead -- Abrams said he understood why some fans felt like the princess-turned-Resistance leader had dissed Han's Wookiee partner at one of his saddest moments.

"That was probably one of the mistakes I made in that," Abrams told /Film. "My thinking at the time was that Chewbacca, despite the pain he was feeling, was focused on trying to save Finn and getting him taken care of. So I tried to have Chewbacca go off with him and focus on Rey, and then have Rey find Leia and Leia find Rey. The idea being that both of them being strong with the Force and never having met, would know about each other — that Leia would have been told about her beyond what we saw onscreen and Rey of course would have learned about Leia. And that reunion would be a meeting and a reunion all in one, and a sort of commiseration of their mutual loss."

Abrams went on to blame his blocking of the scene for why it appeared to some fans as if Leia had brushed off Chewbacca.