The Rise of Skywalker is just over a month away, the media blitz has already begun, and god bless Oscar Isaac for making it gay from the get-go. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly posted on their Twitter, Poe Dameron himself talked about how much the new trio will get to be together in the final chapter of the Skywalker saga, as his connection with John Boyega.
Oscar Isaac describes the “deep, deep connection” between Poe and Finn and getting to spend more time with @JohnBoyega and Daisy Ridley in #TheRiseOfSkywalker. pic.twitter.com/igR42fDA8c
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) November 18, 2019
Aside from the ominous warning that what’s left of the Resistance is “trying to put bandaids on this leaking ship,” there’s a lot of good news in the interview for those of us who want to see Rey (who Isaac calls the “MVP” of the team), Finnm and Poe on an adventure together. But there’s even better news for those of us that want more of that sweet Finn/Poe content.
In case you’re new here, let’s take a step back for context. There are a lot of Star Wars fans who have shipped “Stormpilot” aka “FinnPoe” from the moment Finn rescued Poe in The Force Awakens. Their chemistry was magical and fans saw it as a new hope for some sort of LGBT representation in the Star Wars universe. The actors love it too. John Boyega totally seems to ship it, and Isaac sees it too.
Isaac went even further in this clip. Speaking about Poe and co-star John Boyega he says:
I think that there is a deep, deep connection between the two of them. There’s a deep deep connection between me and John. And I think that that ended up working out really well because – particularly in the new film – we get to work together a lot. You really get to see Finn and Poe figuring stuff out together. They’re on missions together; there’s a lot of camaraderie. There’s tension. There’s fights, as people that are very close have now and then.
Just this would be enough to make a shipper do a yub nub dance. But there’s more and it’s just sort of amazing. “Ultimately the believe in each other,” Isaac says, and then adds:
These guys love each other. The truth is, as a performer I…I can only do so much, cause I don’t write the scripts, but other than say I would think that that would be a great way for the story to go and a much more original one, but I think that at least what we can say is that it holds that potential.
So, if I’m interpreting this right: Oscar Isaac is saying that he, as much as he could, played Poe as in love with Finn? Am I reading this right? He’s certainly saying that he thinks it would be great for the story to go there with these two and let them be a real couple, and that it would be a better story that way. While he also seems to imply, sadly, that it won’t be explicit on-screen, he hints that FinnPoe might remain ambiguous enough for viewers to make their own decisions.
Honestly, this is amazing. It wasn’t too long ago that no one even dared speak of slash shipping in public and the thought of the actors who are part of a fan-made, queer ship talking about it and supporting publicly? It brings me immense joy.
I have no illusions going into Rise of Skywalker that we’ll see Finn and Poe ride off into the sunset or make out; this is a global tentpole film that has to play in homophobic markets like China and I’m a realist. But even just something ambiguous can feel like a step forward, and knowing that at least Isaac is playing it romantically will make watching the film that much more fun for me.
Thank you, Oscar Isaac, and may the gay force be with you.
(Via: EW, image: LucasFilm)
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