Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been in theaters for nearly three weeks now and with that comes behind the scenes stories from the filmmakers who made it. Some, like screenwriter Chris Terrio, should maybe stop talking, but one person from the production process who isn’t often heard from is the editor.
Possibly the most important job on any film, the editor takes all of the pieces given to them from the director and molds and shapes the movie to the director and studio’s vision. And perhaps no editor was under more pressure to deliver than Maryann Brandon.
Of course, a major aspect to the newest Star Wars trilogy was the friendship between Finn (John Boyega) and Poe (Oscar Isaac). What seemed like a platonic relationship at first quickly became something else to many fans. But in a recent interview, Brandon admits that she never really saw the two characters blossoming into something more.
“Because I’m cutting it together, I’m kind of taking it at face value, and I’m not reading as much into it as an audience. And maybe that’s just my nature. I don’t know,” Brandon explained to HuffPost. “But I think, again, they’re best of friends. There is a kind of brotherhood there where they understand each other, and they’ve got each other’s back.”
Honestly, this sounds like a statement from the PR department. Looking at the trilogy in its entirety, it just made sense for Finn and Poe to be together. They set up a possible romance between Finn and Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, but then introduced Rose in Star Wars: The Last Jedi who kisses Finn at the end. Neither relationship was developed, much less resolved, and Finn ends up with neither. He was just Force sensitive the entire time.
As for Poe, they shoehorned in some past romance between him and a character named Zorii Bliss (I’m not kidding) and all they do is tease and flirt. We don’t even see her face. You can’t introduce a faceless character in the third movie of a trilogy and expect the audience to suddenly feel something between them.
What an amazing and groundbreaking thing it would have been for Finn and Poe to hook up in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Boyega and Isaac wanted it, too, but it seems that Disney and their conservative morals and fear over foreign markets caved in the end. And what a shame that is.