The new Star Wars movies will feature homosexual and gay characters.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is finally out worldwide, and has been the center of several fan theories ever since the movie was released. From Rey’s lineage, Snoke’s identity, Leia’s force abilities, fans have debated their thoughts on the loose ends from The Force Awakens.
One popular theory that has been gaining the most attention is the possibility of a gay relationship in The Force Awakens between Finn and Poe.
However, John Boyega has an interview with Shortlist being released soon, and the editor has gave a teaser regarding the rumor:
Sad news: John Boyega confirmed to me the Finn/Poe romance is not canon and it only exists “in Oscar’s head” 🙁
— Chris Mandle (@chris_mandle) January 6, 2016
But, that has not stopped the director of The Force Awakens from spilling the tea on the possibility of featuring gay characters in the next Star Wars movie. Star Wars will be an inclusive franchise and its future will feature gay characters, according to J.J. Abrams.
Abrams revealed the news earlier this week at the Oscar Wilde Awards at Bad Robot Productions. The Daily Beast pointed out that as The Force Awakens has been the first movie in the franchise to feature a black actor, J.J. Abrams has plans for inclusivity also extend to homosexual characters as well. “When I talk about inclusivity it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s about inclusivity. So of course.”
“To me, the fun of Star Wars is the glory of possibility. So it seems insanely narrow-minded and counterintuitive to say that there wouldn’t be a homosexual character in that world.”
This is a huge step for the franchise, and it’s something that is long overdue for the Star Wars series. But, it’s important to point out that this is not the first time Star Wars featured gay characters. Homosexual characters have been featured in the Star Wars universe through Paul Kemp’s novel Lords of the Sith through of Moff Delian Mors, and in Chuck Wendig’s novel Aftermath through Sinjir Rath Velus and Esmelle Wexley. Wendig noted that it’s a growing trend in science fiction and comics:
You’re starting to see it more, obviously, in the larger narrative properties. Comics are just starting to figure out that that [LGBT men and women] exist in the world, and you can include and incorporate them in stories and speak to those people, and speak to audiences who may not have been spoken to before.
How these couples and relationships will be displayed on the big screen remains to be seen, and while it’s disappointing that Finn and Poe won’t have a romantic relationship, hopefully we’ll be surprised.
