Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker releases in cinemas on December 20, and more information is coming out as the cast and crew give interviews about the upcoming sci-fi blockbuster. In a discussion with Variety, stars Oscar Issac (Poe Dameron) and John Boyega (Finn) have confirmed that, despite what many fans might want or expect, the two do not share an on-screen romance in the trilogy’s final film.
“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,”, Issac told the site during a press junket. “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.” He says that he enjoys the ambiguity of the characters, “but if they would’ve been boyfriends, that would have been fun.” Boyega said that the pair were “platonic,” but also that they “always had a quite loving and open relationship in which it wouldn’t be too weird if it went beyond it.”
Oscar Issac has a history of discussing the potential for romance between the two characters, but Disney has very few canonically queer characters across its slate of cinematic blockbuster franchises–the first gay character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe was a side-character in Avengers: Endgame, although Tessa Thompson has confirmed that Valkyrie will be pursuing a queen in Thor: Love & Thunder. The Star Wars film series is yet to feature an openly queer character, although Orka and Flix from Star Wars: Resistance have been confirmed as a gay couple.
However, this could still change with The Rise of Skywalker, with Abrams hinting that there would be some LGBTQ representation in the movie. “In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” Abrams told Variety. Asked to elaborate, he replied, “I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie…but I did just say what I just said.”
We’re starting to get some idea of what happens in The Rise of Skywalker, but so many details about the film are still a mystery to us. The return of Palpatine is intended to tie the whole series together, and viewers of The Mandalorian will get another sneak peek before the movie releases.
