J.J. Abrams came out with some pretty big news about the Star War franchise’s latest new film in a recent interview.
Fans have long wondered if the relationship (bromance) between Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron and John Boyega’s Finn would escalate to become romantic in the new film.
Abrams has a big hint about just that.
The notoriously tight-lipped Abrams let more slip than he normally does when discussing the new film with Variety. Abrams mentioned that he felt the Star Wars universe should “[look] more the way the world looks than not. And 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.”
When pressed as to whether this meant we’d see our first canonically gay character in a Star Wars film, Abrams said, “I will say I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie — but I did just say what I just said.” Of course, most fans jump straight to Poe and Finn when they hear about canon gay relationships.
JJ was quick to clarify when their names came up, though. Abrams stated their friendship “goes far deeper than a romantic relationship,” adding that “it is a deep bond that these two have, not just because of the sort of trial by fire in which they met, but also because of their willingness to be as intimate as they are — as afraid as they are, as unsure as they are, and still be bold, and still be daring and brave.”
Well, to be frank, JJ, that sounds kind of like a romantic relationship to us, but okay. Oscar Isaac certainly seems to think so, too. “There’s a deep, deep connection between me and John … these guys love each other. As a performer, I could only do so much because I don’t get to write the scripts. But I would think that that would be a great way for the story to go, a much more original one.”
To be sure, there have been gay characters in the Star Wars extended universe: books, comics, and video games have all featured LGBT characters. However, no such character has ever appeared on the big screen. Speaking on this very topic, Kathleen Kennedy, the chief of Lucasfilm, explained the company’s plan for addressing the issue.
“The demographics within our business don’t reflect society, and they certainly don’t reflect the audience,” Kennedy observed. “There should be many, many more faces of color, many more women, many more gay people.” For a world filled with laser swords and space dragons, Kennedy is right: there is a shocking lack of diverse humans.
