In a big franchise like Harry Potter or the MCU, if a couple of characters give each other a certain look or make each other laugh, the fans become obsessed with “shipping” them. In other words, they try to will a canonical romance to happen with reams of fan art. It’s happened before – just like at Rick and Michonne’s relationship in The Walking Dead. The fans were so desperate for that, even Andrew Lincoln’s mom wanted it to happen. Star Wars is no different, especially in the social media age’s sequel trilogy. Here are 10 Star Wars Romances The Fans Want To Happen.
Finn and Rey
When Finn awoke from his sort-of coma at the beginning of The Last Jedi, he found himself aboard an unfamiliar Resistance ship, having survived a near-death experience, and his first question was, “Where’s Rey?” From that moment on, it seemed pretty clear that Finn was in love with Rey following their amazing intergalactic adventure together. But does Rey love him back? John Boyega doesn’t even believe this is a question and sees Finn and Rey as pretty well-established star-crossed lovers. He said in an interview, “I think we already established a love between Finn and Rey [in The Force Awakens].”
Kylo Ren and General Hux
The shipping of Kylo Ren and General Hux will confuse some viewers, who have seen from the past two movies in the sequel trilogy that these two characters can’t stand each other. However, in popular culture, when two characters hate each other, there’s always a handful of fans who take it to mean that they’re really deeply in love with each other. Maybe Kylo Ren’s only been acting out for the past few years (and killing all those people) because he’s struggling to deal with his sexuality. Hux could be the Smithers to his Mr. Burns. It would explain a lot.
Rey and Poe
Surprisingly, Rey didn’t even meet Poe until the end of The Last Jedi. As they boarded the Millennium Falcon, they shared a brief few words. Poe had heard of Rey and everything she’s done and he was impressed. Some fans took this as a sign of love at first sight.
As far as we’ve seen from the sequel trilogy, Poe has incredible chemistry with everyone he comes across, because Oscar Isaac is just so damn likable and charming. There’s no way for him to interact with another character and not inspire some shippers to begin begging Lucasfilm to get them together.
Finn and Rose
Kelly Marie Tran’s performance as Rose Tico in The Last Jedi received such vicious backlash from Star Wars fans – as well as hateful racist and sexist trolls – that Tran ended up quitting social media. But more open-minded Star Wars fans saw a plucky, lovable, kind-hearted new character joining the ensemble. What was also interesting was how vague her relationship with Finn was portrayed. They kissed at the end, but it wasn’t clear if they were going to fall in love and remain close friends. Either way, a lot of fans are shipping these two characters in anticipation of Episode IX.
Chewbacca and Maz Kanata
When Han Solo first took Rey and Finn to Maz Kanata’s Mos Eisley Cantina stand-in in The Force Awakens, the first thing Lupita Nyong’o’s performance-capture alien character said was, “Where’s my boyfriend?” in reference to Chewbacca. Now, it seems as though she was just being playful and the two of them aren’t actually boyfriend and girlfriend, but still, that hasn’t stopped fans from shipping them. Chewie is definitely a lot bigger than Maz, standing at around seven and a half feet whereas she’s only about four feet tall, but that’s no reason to dismiss the possibility of them being a couple.
Poe and Kylo Ren
When Poe is first captured by the First Order at the beginning of The Force Awakens, Kylo Ren comes in to torture him and says, “I had no idea that we had the best pilot in the Resistance on board.” For some fans, this line was a little too complimentary to come from a villain who was about to torture a hero, unless that villain held some romantic feelings for that hero. And let’s not forget that before Poe was captured, he was flirtatiously playful with Kylo Ren on Jakku: “So, who talks first? You talk first? I talk first?” He might as well have been on a Tinder date.
General Leia and Vice Admiral Holdo
In The Last Jedi, General Leia and Vice Admiral Holdo were shown to have a great rapport and a long history with each other. This has led some fans to ship them in their fan fiction and fan art. This couldn’t happen in the movies, since The Rise of Skywalker won’t feature any new footage of Carrie Fisher following her untimely passing in 2016 and Holdo killed herself plowing the Resistance’s last ship into the First Order’s fleet in The Last Jedi. However, it could happen in a tie-in novel or comic book set between Leia’s breakup with Han and Holdo’s demise.
R2-D2 and C-3PO
Ever since Lando was revealed to be pansexual and in a romantic relationship with his droid L3-37, voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge, fans have been clamoring to have R2-D2 and C-3PO get together. If droids are able to feel emotions and fall in love, then why not have the saga’s oldest duo start dating?
They already bicker like an old married couple, and despite their differences, they’ve always stuck together, so it makes sense that these two have been in love the whole time without realizing it. Maybe because they’re droids, they need to be told what love is to realize it’s what they feel for each other.
Finn and Poe
Ever since Poe let Finn keep his jacket because it looked good on him, Star Wars fans have been dying to see them get together and become the Disney Star Wars movies’ first same-sex couple. A reference book released to tie in with The Last Jedi seemed to hint pretty strongly at a Finn/Poe romance when it explained that Poe wears a ring that belonged to his mother and is “waiting to share it someday with the right partner.” The fact that the book used the word “partner” and not “woman” speaks volumes. However, John Boyega has thrown shade on the Finn/Poe romance rumors.
Rey and Kylo Ren
The shipping of Rey and Kylo Ren – or “Reylo,” as their pairing has been dubbed – has been a favorite among Star Wars fans since the raging sexual tension in the torture scene in The Force Awakens. Then, in The Last Jedi, they spent the whole movie Force-Skyping, which only added fuel to the fire. Kylo Ren is the ultimate bad boy: he’s dark, he’s brooding, he wears black, and he killed his father in cold blood. The only issue is that Han and Leia are among the leading fan theories about Rey’s parents, which would make these two blood-related. Still, that didn’t stop Luke and Leia.
