Those Finn and Poe Dameron rumors may be true after all. Star Wars: The Force Awakens director J.J. Abrams has revealed that gay characters will be coming into (or out?) the Star Wars universe.
The news comes by way of The Daily Beast, who caught up with Abrams at his Bad Robot headquarters for the Oscar Wilde Awards. Asked about the possibility of gay characters in Star Wars, Abrams said, “Of course! When I talk about inclusivity it’s not excluding gay characters. It’s about inclusivity. So of course.”
Star Wars recently took major steps in expanding its diversity with the inclusion of two main characters who were not straight, white males. The arrival of Rey (Daisy Ridley), Star Wars’ first female lead and Jedi, and Finn (John Boyega), the franchise’s first black lead, has opened the floodgates to a more realistic Star Wars universe. Even then, gay characters in Star Wars would represent a major landmark for Hollywood.
“I would love it,” Abrams later said. “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.”
By this logic, Star Wars has had gay characters in its galaxy the entire time. Perhaps we’ve already met two of them. Shortly after The Force Awakens premiered, memes on the Internet began to circulate, pointing out Finn and Poe Dameron’s close relationship throughout the film. Taking the first black lead in Star Wars and turning him into the first gay lead would be a bold step, but anything’s possible.
The world awaits the introduction of LBGT characters in Star Wars. Two opportunities to make their debut are coming up, with Rogue One: A Star Wars Story releasing on Dec. 16, followed by Star Wars: Episode VIII on Dec. 17, 2017.
