However, the romance was never explored in the trilogy, which concluded with recent film
The Rise of Skywalker.
Oscar Isaac: The Disney overlords were not ready
The decision leaves LGBT+ representation in the saga
confined to a kiss between two unnamed background characters that was edited out in markets with homophobic laws.
The kiss was removed from
an edit of the film shown in Singapore and Middle Eastern markets due to local laws banning depictions of homosexuality.
A spokesperson for Singapore's Infocomm Media Development Authority confirmed: "The applicant has omitted a brief scene which under the Film Classification Guidelines would require a higher rating."
Disney has declined to clarify which markets the kiss was removed in –
though it did air to audiences in China.
Kiss was meant to show 'everyone is welcome'
Director JJ Abrams defended the scene in an interview with
MovieZine. "It just felt like in this one scene of celebration, it felt like an opportunity to show [an LGBT kiss] without it being heavy-handed or making too loud of a deal," he explained.
"Part of the whole experience was to see a same-sex couple have a moment together that was explicitly saying in this galaxy, everyone is there and is welcome."
He continued: "It doesn't matter your sexual preference, your race, your species, whether you're organic, whether you're synthetic – Star Wars is for everyone.
"And knowing that there hadn't been a representation like that, it doesn't take away from anyone. It just shows that Star Wars is for all of us."
Speaking to
IGN, Oscar Isaac blamed Disney execs for the handling of the issue.
He said: "I think there could've been a very interesting, forward-thinking… not even forward-thinking, just, like, current-thinking love story there, something that hadn't quite been explored yet – particularly the dynamic between these two men in war that could've fallen in love with each other.
"I would try to push it a bit in that direction, but the Disney overlords were not ready to do that."
