Warning: SPOILERS for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker ahead.
John Boyega, star of Disney and Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, throws shade at the sequel trilogy’s Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) romance, while spoiling the latest Skywalker saga movie. Boyega joined the storied franchise in 2017’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens as Stormtrooper FN-2187, who defects from the evil First Order with Resistance pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). In fact, it’s Poe who gives Finn his name. The pair, along with Force-sensitive Rey, make up the sequel trilogy’s new trio, while Kylo Ren spends much of it as their main antagonist.
Leading up to the final installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, fans wondered what romantic pairings - if any - would be confirmed in The Rise of Skywalker. Some of the most popular are Finn and Poe, aka StormPilot, as well as Rey and Kylo Ren, aka Reylo. For his part, Boyega encourages Finn-Poe shippers, particularly on social media with fun posts that play into the fans’ desires to see the couple realized on screen. However, Finn and Poe were not romantically linked in The Rise of Skywalker. Instead, the movie from J.J. Abrams had a kiss between Rey and Kylo Ren/Ben Solo just before the latter died after saving her life. Now, Boyega seems to be making his feelings about this particular romance known.
On Twitter, Boyega posted a series of four photos of Rey and Kylo Ren throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy, including two images from The Force Awakens and two from The Rise of Skywalker. Boyega captioned the post with, “Star Wars romance” and three emojis. All four photos depict Rey and Kylo Ren either fighting or hurting each other, with one image even showing the spoilery moment when Rey delivers a fatal wound to Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker, though she heals him moments later. Check out Boyega’s post below:
Boyega’s post many not be an explicit criticism of Star Wars’ romance between Rey and Kylo Ren, but that’s certainly the implication. Plus, Boyega’s additional replies seem to confirm he’s throwing shade at the franchise’s handling of this particular storyline. There are certainly a number of fans who “ship” Reylo, but there are also a great deal who criticize the pairing for normalizing abusive relationships. For many, having Rey kiss Kylo Ren in The Rise of Skywalker only cements the normalization of emotional and physical abuse as romance, sending an incredibly dangerous message to women and girls of all ages who watch Star Wars.
It’s also possible that Boyega is throwing shade at The Rise of Skywalker for choosing to confirm Rey and Kylo Ren as a couple instead of Finn and Rey or even Finn and Poe, the latter of whom arguably have the better romance storyline in the sequel trilogy. In fact, Boyega’s co-star Isaac has been very vocal about his belief that the movie should’ve made Finn and Poe gay, even blaming the “Disney overlords.” Perhaps Boyega’s tweet is his way of pointing out the same idea that Star Wars could’ve depicted a sweet, healthy romance with Finn and Poe (or Finn and Rey), but instead chose to attempt an enemies-to-lovers storyline with Kylo Ren and Rey and failed to stick the landing.
Of course, this is all speculation; only Boyega knows what he truly means by his tweet and until he offers an explicit explanation. Still, the pervasive reading seems to be that Boyega is throwing shade at Star Wars’ Kylo Ren and Rey romance, which is sure to keep fans debating long after Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker concludes its theatrical run.
Next: Every Star Wars Movie Coming After Rise of Skywalker
Source: John Boyega/Twitter
