UPDATE: According to a tweet from Variety's Adam B. Vary, the promised moment of queer representation is actually in Rise of Skywalker, but is very brief. "I can confirm there is queer representation in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," he wrote. "It lasts maybe two seconds, and you may miss it entirely. Welp." Welp, indeed.
ORIGINAL: Take a break from reading your porny Poe/Finn Star Wars fanfiction, because J.J. Abrams has all but confirmed that the final film in the Skywalker trilogy will finally feature LGBTQ+ representation.
Since the relaunch of Star Wars with The Force Awakens, fans have latched on to Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyer's) as the galaxy's most obvious gay couple. In a recent interview, Isaac acknowledged that the pair have "a deep, deep connection" but that anything romantic between them was "something out of my hands."
"The truth is, as a performer... I can only do so much, cause I don't write the scripts, other than say I would think that that would be a great way for the story to go and a much more original one," he explained. "But I think that, at least, what we can say is that it holds that potential."
At a press junket for Rise of Skywalker this week, Abrams -- who has returned to the franchise after sitting out 2017's The Last Jedi -- continued in that vein, saying Finn and Poe's relationship "is a far deeper one than a romantic one...It is a deep bond that these two have, not just because of the trial by fire in which they met, but also because of their willingness to be as intimate as they are, as afraid as they, as unsure as they are, and still be bold, and still be daring and brave."
But even if that duo doesn't hook up while Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) are off having another one of their Force FaceTimes, Abrams teases that we'll finally get the queer representation we've been waiting for.
"[I]n 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," he said. "I will say I'm giving away nothing about what happens in the movie. But I did just say what I just said."
Well, that's frustrating vague. Are we just going to see a shot of two aliens holding hands only to find out later that they were queer? Star Wars is already pretty queer offscreen, and it's time for the films to catch up!
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