There’s still a long way to go, but it appears as if Disney is finally beginning to take the first baby steps towards making its various franchises more inclusive. EA Motive’s Star Wars: Squadrons may not be a product directly overseen by the company, of course, but the House of Mouse would have almost certainly signed off on the space combat title’s canon story, which, it has been confirmed, will include an openly gay character.
Introduced earlier this week as the focal point of a gorgeous CG short, Imperial pilot Varko Grey, abandoned by his squadron’s commanding Star Destroyer, is forced into hiding in the wreckage of a fierce battle ultimately won by the Rebels. His ship irreparably damaged and spotted by a scouting X-Wing, Grey escapes to a nearby planet and ultimately wins out in a battle to the death against his pursuer.
While the topic isn’t touched upon in the trailer, a data bank entry over on the official Star Wars site reveals Grey’s reasons for joining the Empire and the impact his dangerous line of work has on husband Emory. The full excerpt is as follows:
Varko Grey started his career as a police officer on Parkella, fighting to keep order in the face of corruption and injustice. In time he joined up as an Imperial TIE pilot, seeing the Empire as the only hope for a chaotic galaxy. Beating the odds to survive battle after battle — much to the relief of his husband Emory — Grey’s skills and experience eventually earned him a promotion to Titan Leader. Over the years, Grey has wrestled internally with the Empire’s methods, but he’s seen too many TIE pilots sacrifice their lives for Imperial ideals to reject them now.
For a franchise that’s come under intense scrutiny in the past for accusations of whitewashing and a severe lack of representation, today’s news is incredibly welcome, to say the least. Unfortunately, though, with the release of The Rise of Skywalker last year marking the end of Disney’s Sequel Trilogy, it may be awhile yet before inclusivity makes its way to a galaxy far, far away on the big screen.
Star Wars: Squadrons is out October 2nd for PC, Xbox One and PlayStation 4, the latter version of which will be playable in VR.