Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

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Fandom
Name: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker
Abbreviation(s): TRoS
Creator: JJ Abrams
Date(s): December 19, 2019
Medium: Film
Country of Origin: America
External Links:
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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is the third installment in the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Fandom

Following the release of TRoS, fandom reaction was swift and predominately negative (again).

The inclusion of female love interests for both Finn and Poe was greeted negatively, particularly by Stormpilot fans. Oscar Isaac was also very vocal on the press tour about how he had wanted to see Stormpilot become canon. Also the inclusion of a same-sex kiss between two extras in the background of one scene only increased accusations of queerbaiting.

Fans were also very angry with the decision to sideline Rose Tico, something that was foreshadowed by the lack of Rose merchandise, which had also caused controversy before the film's release. The inclusion of another female love interest, Jannah, for Finn also fed into this controversy, as many fans saw this new character as a replacement for Rose. There were similar complaints following Rose's inclusion in TLJ, with fans saying that she was there to replace Rey. However unlike Rey, Rose was effectively sidelined by the narrative and only had two minutes of screentime in this film. Fans shared their negative reaction, mainly on Twitter, using the hashtags WheresRose and RoseDeservedBetter.

There were also complaints of racism in relation to the inclusion of Poe Dameron's backstory. The character played by a Latinx actor was revealed to be a former drug smuggler. Many viewed this as a retcon rather than a character development, and it was highlighted as a racist narrative choice given the ethnicity of the actor.[1][2]

Accusations of racism within fandom continued following John Boyega's interactions with Reylo fans on Twitter.

Shipping

Despite the inclusion of new characters, there were very few new ships. Jannah/Rose Tico is a femslash rarepair. There are also a small number of fics pairing Zorii Bliss/Poe Dameron and Finn/Jannah.[3]

Many established ships received renewed interest from the release of this film. There was an influx of Reylo fanfic. Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren is the parent tag for those works, but many new works used the child tag, Rey/Ben Solo instead. This tag first appeared in the top ten relationships list alongside other popular Reylo tags sometime in 2018. (Note the sidebar on Ao3 does not merge individual tags with their parent tags) Between December 2019 and June 2020, the parent tag for Reylo works saw over 4000 new fics posted on Ao3.[4]

Stormpilot inspired almost 1500 works in the same time.[4] While Kylux remains the most popular slash pairing of the Sequel Trilogy, it saw only 746 new works produced in the same period.[4] Rey and Poe finally interacted in canon, and Damerey shippers responded by posting more than 600 new works; a 49% increase in fics with this pairing.[4] In same period, 218 works pairing Finn/Rey were posted.[4] There was also a noticeable increase in Hux/Rose works in the months following the film's release.

Common Tropes & Storylines

  • Fix-its:
    • There have been attempts to rewrite the entire film. Some are based on Duel of the Fates, an early version of Episode IX by Colin Trevorrow that was scrapped by Lucasfilm in favor of The Rise of Skywalker.
    • Kylo Ren lives, or in other works, Kylo Ren dies so that Ben Solo may live. Kylo/Ben returning as a force ghost, and other characters going on a quest to bring him back also appears. A redeemed Ben Solo often has to prove himself to the Resistance/Republic and may spend some time as a prisoner. In some works a redeemed Ben Solo sometimes gets guidance from Force Ghosts.
    • Armitage Hux survives his execution. He is often portrayed as been on the run or as a prisoner of the Resistance. In some cases, Hux's role as a former spy for the Resistance saves his life. In other works he is executed for his crimes.
    • Canon AUs in which Finn and Jannah are siblings, and Finn reconnects with his family appear. This was a popular theory before the release of TRoS.
  • Empress Rey fics

Example Fanworks

Archives & Links

Related Concepts, Fandoms, Terms, Fanworks
See also Star Wars/Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars/Original Trilogy, Episode VII: The Force Awakens, Episode VII: The Last Jedi, Star Wars Legends, Star Wars/Disney Era

References

  1. ^ Tweet by ClarissaDeLune referencing the retconning of Poe's character, 14 April 2020.
  2. ^ Tweet by Conan, Ben’s Avenger, suggest some fans viewed the upcoming Poe centric comic as an excuse "to justify the retcon", Jan 29 2020.
  3. ^ As of 24 June 2020:Zorii/Poe has 58 works, and the gen Zorii & Poe has 23 works. Finn/Jannah has 13 works, and the gen pairing of these two has 28 works.
  4. ^ a b c d e Star Wars Sequel Trilogy archived page on Ao3, December 15, 2019. Compared to works available on Ao3 on 24 June 2020. See talk page for collated data.