Despite some perceived sparks in ‘The Force Awakens’, and fan fiction and fan art, the love between Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac) is strictly platonic. In ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, the mysterious lady from Poe’s past, Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell) surfaces, and even though it’s clear that Poe has never even seen her face, it’s also clear that he’d like to see a whole lot more than that.
But previously, there was hope on the part of some fans that Disney would actually *ahem* man up and feature a same-sex relationship between two main characters in ‘Star Wars’, specifically Finn and Poe. And while director J.J. Abrams included a same-sex kiss between two women in ‘The Rise of Skywalker’, they were basically extras, AND it was edited out in other parts of the world.
But Isaac would have been willing to have explored a romance between Finn and Poe, had the “overlords” at Disney only allowed it.
In an interview with IGN, Isaac said:
“I think there could’ve been a very interesting, forward-thinking – not even forward-thinking, just, like, current-thinking – love story there, something that hadn’t quite been explored yet; particularly the dynamic between these two men in war that could’ve fallen in love with each other. I would try to push it a bit in that direction, but the Disney overlords were not ready to do that.”
Disney is very slowly working toward total inclusion in its major franchises. It’s easier to represent characters of different races or to elevate female characters to more leading roles. But the issue of LGBTQ inclusion is much more complicated, as in parts of the world, homosexuality is a crime. With as much money as Disney spends on ‘Star Wars’ and Marvel movies, they can’t have them not play in significant parts of the world. We’ll have to wait and see how ‘Eternals’ does when it comes out and features a gay male hero. That will be followed by Tessa Thompson’s Valkyrie searching for a Queen in ‘Thor: Love and Thunder’.
Until then, expect Disney to keep it vague in other features. (I mean, did you see ‘Frozen II’? Elsa and Honeymaren? Totally a couple!)
Are you disappointed that the Finn/Poe relationship is just a bromance and not a romance?
‘The Rise of Skywalker’ is now playing in theaters.
