Star Wars actors John Boyega (Finn) and Oscar Isaac (Poe) have, in the past, both enthusiastically embraced the shipping of their characters, a pairing known as Finnpoe or “Stormpilot,” which would also be a great band name. Now Boyega’s back at it.
It’s hard to believe it’s so fast-approaching, but Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be upon us on December 20th, 2019. As such, we’re starting to see more promotional materials and discussion emerge as the mighty engine of the Disney PR machine revs to life. John Boyega was fast to jump on a recent Tweet noting that it looked as though Finn and Poe were holding hands in a Rise of Skywalker picture behind Rey—ready, as always, to keep the good ship Finnpoe afloat.
Damn. How’d you know ? https://t.co/QxsKPLowud
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) October 15, 2019
After the movie’s release, there may be a good deal of “shipping” conversation to be had, which will likely hinge upon whether the somewhat controversial ship “Reylo,” or Rey and Kylo Ren, becomes canonical. Director Rian Johnson seemed heavily into a Reylo vibe in The Last Jedi, even giving us a Force-fueled Skype call between the two where Ren is shirtless, having Rey Fed-Ex herself straight to the man who killed his father Han Solo in cold blood, and letting Rey be fast and loose with her “Ben”s.
J.J. Abrams, who is back directing the third installment in this trilogy, didn’t seem as fixated on making Rey and Ren happen in the first film, so we’ll have to cross that bridge that a character will no doubt fall off of when we come to it. (For what it’s worth, I support Reylo as a ship because people should be allowed to ship whatever makes them happy, but I’d rather not have a canon redemption arc for Kylo Ren that hinges on romance with our story’s heroine.)
Stormpilot, on the other hand, is pure goodness and light, and it’s hard to see anything wrong with the ship save that there is a slim to none chance we will get to see it made canonical. The match-up burst forth from the enthusiasm Finn and Poe shared in each other’s company in The Force Awakens, a shared leather jacket, and a perfectly timed lip-bite from Isaac. Ever since, the two actors have good-naturedly fielded questions about the pairing and endorsed it, unprompted, as Boyega did above.
It’s nice to live in a time where male stars of giant tentpole movies can feel secure enough in fan culture to engage with their character’s queer fandom ship in a positive fashion. It’ll be even nicer when these relationships are allowed to jump out of fandom and into actual canon. Until then, the support is appreciated.
okay but how did you find that tweet if they didn’t @ you on it? DO YOU SEARCH FINNPOE ON SOCIAL MEDIA JOHN????
— jess. (@oscarxsaac) October 15, 2019
I leave you with this immortal video made by The Mary Sue’s own Dan Van Winkle.
(images: Disney)
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