Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be the first Star Wars movie to feature LGBTQ+ representation, albeit briefly towards the end of the movie. The moment is not between any main characters but a pair of unnamed female members of the Resistance. The Star Wars films had previously received criticism from members and supporters of the LGBTQ+ community for never having represented the group on screen. Now, the franchise may face a similar backlash as Avengers: Endgame, which quickly put director Joe Russo in the film as a gay male for a short scene early in the movie.
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“It was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker director JJ Abrams told Variety. When asked if that meant an LGBTQ+ character will be a part of The Rise of Skywalker, he said, “I will say I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie. But I did just say what I just said.”
The cast have also revealed that they hoped to get the representation on screen. “Personally, I kind of hoped and wished that maybe that would’ve been taken further in the other films, but I don’t have control,” Poe Dameron actor Oscar Isaac said. “It seemed like a natural progression, but sadly enough it’s a time when people are too afraid, I think, of…I don’t know what.” if they would’ve been boyfriends, that would have been fun.”
Despite many fans shipping the relationship between Finn and Poe, Finn actor John Boyega revealed that the two characters won’t be taking any steps into a gay relationship. “They’ve always had a quite loving and open relationship in which it wouldn’t be too weird if it went beyond it,” Boyega said. “But at the same time, they are just platonic at the moment.”
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters on Friday.
