Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, director J.J. Abrams’ latest addition to the burgeoning sci-fi franchise, is incredibly diverse, in a sense. Hitting theaters on December 20, 2019, the film is set to include a colorful cast of characters who span the gamut of identity. Still, Abrams has yet to confirm whether his latest project will address one of the franchise’s most glaring deficiencies: Over ten films (including Rogue One and Solo), with a collective runtime of 1352 minutes (she’s a mathematician!), Star Wars has yet to present an openly queer character or relationship — a truly deflating fact given science fiction’s historical openness toward queer representation. In Star Wars, talking flesh puddles are apparently more conceivable than LGBTQ+ characters.
Of course, numerous fan theories about Star Wars characters have proliferated over the years, the zaniest of which have pointed to Rey’s disinterest in her hot co-resistance fighters as evidence of her being our “space ace,” or even Jabba the Hutt’s being intersex. More concretely, the franchise has had a handful of brushes with queerness, including Solo: A Star Wars Story writer Jonathan Kasdan’s assertion that the character Lando Calrissian (Donald Glover) was pansexual. “How can you not be pansexual in space?” the actor joked when asked about the detail, adding, “There’s so much to have sex with.” However, nothing in the film, save a few moments of debatable flirtatiousness, would directly flesh out this trait, leading some to accuse the movie of queerbaiting.
Yet in terms of an actual onscreen queer relationship, the closest queer Star Wars-shippers the galaxy-over have come is the prospect of Stormpilot (AKA FinnPoe) — a union between Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, commander of the Resistance and esteemed space daddy, and the stormtrooper-turned-resistance-fighter Finn, played by John Boyega. Rumors of the celestial romance began swirling in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens and have continued through another film, 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi.
Then, out of nowhere, Stormpilot started experiencing some serious turbulence on December 3, 2019 when Star Wars mastermind J.J. Abrams told Variety that, to him, Poe and Finn’s relationship is “a far deeper one than a romantic one.” In other words, Finn and Poe love each other very much…but not like that. Karabast!
Abrams, famously wary of spoilers, nevertheless did not stop there. “In the case of the LGBTQ community,” the director said, “it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film.” Queer Star Wars shippers, there’s hope yet; Chobb’s knob!
The publication pressed Abrams for a more specific response, asking him if there would be a queer character in “The Rise of Skywalker.” Abrams, living up to his spoiler-phobic reputation, then gave the following reply: “I will say I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie, but I did just say what I just said.”
So, what did he say? He said that he values the experiences (and, presumably, cash) of LGBTQ+ viewers who go to see Star Wars; that he wants LGBTQ+ folks who see his movie to feel seen, to feel included. He did not say there will be LGBTQ+ characters in the film. He did not say “The Rise of Skywalker” will feature a queer relationship.
That all said, do we trust him? Why should we? Who knows — perhaps the most effective mode of spoiler-prevention is a small dose of misdirection.
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