The animated children’s series Star Wars Resistance features a gay couple, Disney producers have confirmed.
The series – which is about to launch its second season – features two characters called Orka and Flix. Many fans assumed they were a gay couple when the first season aired.
Now, Disney producers have confirmed that the characters are a couple, the Guardian reports.
Executive producers Athena Portillo, Justin Ridge and Brandon Auman appeared on the Coffee With Kenobi podcast where they made the comments.
Star Wars Resistance producer: Orka and Flix are ‘absolutely a gay couple’.
When asked about the nature of Orka and Flix’s relationship, Ridge replied: “I think it’s safe to say they’re an item. They’re absolutely a gay couple and we’re proud of that.”
Many fans had assumed that they were more than just friends before the show’s producers confirmed the news.
The confirmation means that Orka and Flix are the first official gay couple in the Star Wars universe – however there has been significant speculation about other characters in the past.
I think it’s safe to say they’re an item. They’re absolutely a gay couple and we’re proud of that.
When The Force Awakens was released in 2015, many LGBT+ fans assumed that pilot Poe Dameron (played by Oscar Isaac) and stormtrooper Finn (played by John Boyega) would become a couple.
In the lead-up to the release of The Last Jedi, Isaac added fuel to the speculation when he told Ellen that there was a “subtle romance” between two characters – but refused to say what characters the romance was between.
“You know, you just have to look very close – you have to watch it a few times to see the little hints,” he said at the time.
Disney has come under fire in the past for lack of LGBT+ representation.
However, in a later interview with Collider, he said it was great that LGBT+ fans could see themselves in a character like his – but refused to identify Poe as gay.
“As to actually seeing how that manifests in Poe – that isn’t necessarily going to be a clear story point in [The Last Jedi],” he said.
“But as an actor I’m very open to those possible storylines and I don’t think it needs to be nailed down in any kind of traditional way.”
Disney has come under fire on a number of occasions for a lack of LGBT+ representation across its films, including Marvel, which the studio owns.
Marvel recently confirmed that superhero Valkyrie will be the franchise’s first openly queer character in the upcoming Thor film.