A fascinating new Reddit post may reveal the truth of what went on behind the scenes of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy. The now-deleted user claims to be a former Lucasfilm employee, with their post explaining how J.J. Abrams clashed with Disney on both The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker. One of the most alarming of the revelations contained in the thread, though, may reveal the reason why a Finn/Rey romance never happened.
As per this anonymous Lucasfilm leaker, the original intention was for the trilogy to explore a love story between the burgeoning Jedi and the reformed Stormtrooper. However, Disney vetoed this eventuality as it was deemed to be too much of a “risk.” This was allegedly chiefly the opinion of then-studio chairman Alan Horn. In response to this, Abrams instead pitched a Poe/Finn romance, but Disney refused to allow that to go ahead as well.
So, what was it that was too “risky” about Finn having a romance with either of these characters? Well, the reason may be made clear with another of the Redditor’s revelations. Apparently, the casting of John Boyega in the role in the first place was “a subject of controversy” with the studio. Abrams was adamant about him, but Horn and others were against it. Ansel Elgort was suggested as a safer choice, and Disney also pushed for a Poe/Rey relationship, but J.J. wasn’t interested.
What’s more, the director wanted Finn to become a Jedi, but Lucasfilm felt this would be “too much” if Boyega was cast and the filmmaker was forced to flatten his character arc considerably. When you put all this together, it paints a clear picture that Horn and other Disney execs forbade Abrams from doing pretty much anything at all with Finn specifically because he’d chosen a black actor for the role. And this is exactly the sort of behavior that John Boyega has publicly blasted the company for.
Again, this info comes from an unverified source, but it does fit with what we know went on behind the scenes and yet again, we’re left wondering how much better the Star Wars sequels could’ve been if it wasn’t for studio interference.
