Director J.J. Abrams created many questions with his advent of the prequel trilogy, but one of his strangest answers revolved around the role of beloved droid R2-D2 in Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens. Much to the disappointment of fans, the little robot's presence throughout the film is fairly minuscule, being reduced to nothing more than a set piece for the majority of its runtime. Making his entrance within the final minutes of the movie to miraculously present the final piece of the plot's entire puzzle, R2's usage in Abrams' first foray into Star Wars showed he had no idea what he was doing.
The director previously revealed his motives for underutilizing R2, both narratively and strategically. Following the untimely death of legacy character Han Solo, Abrams explained that R2's sudden awakening was meant as a delayed gratification for viewers who had just lost one of their favorite characters by returning another one in exchange. Despite referring to it himself as "taking the easy way out" of the narrative corner they had written themselves into, Abrams doubled down on this when he elaborated on why he made R2 the holder of the MacGuffin.
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