“There’s so much there,” Ackie says, adding that Abrams sat her down and filled her in on Jannah’s backstory, much of which she can’t discuss and never made it into the final film. She’s accepted it, though. “I think there’s something to be honored about the fact that this film is about the trio [of Finn, Rey, and Poe] and that anyone added in at this point needs to be functioning to help with that plot.”

One thing she can comfortably talk about is Jannah’s bond with Finn, which might come across as romantic to plenty of viewers. That’s the intent, Ackie says.

“I felt like it was maybe a dating kind of vibe,” Ackie says of the characters’ relationship, adding that she and Boyega would “try and push it on set” to see how far much they could toy with their characters’ chemistry.

“There is an energy, I think,” Ackie said.“Also, like, we need to see Finn with someone, man! This man’s been bandied around. He needs to be loving on someone.”

In the second film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Finn has a brief romance with Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), but it’s dashed in the third film. There’s also his ongoing chemistry with Poe (Oscar Isaac), a friendship that has launched a thousand fanfics, though Disney has kept that relationship firmly platonic. In the third film, Jannah and Finn meet after the core trio crashes onto her planet in the Millennium Falcon, in search of the Sith wayfinder. While helping him fix the Falcon, Jannah and Finn have an instant connection, sticking together for the rest of the story and fighting Kylo Ren’s forces together. Wherever Finn goes, Jannah isn’t far behind, refusing to leave his side until they can safely escape the final battle together.

By the end, the pair make it out unscathed, getting rescued by Lando Calrissian (Billy Dee Williams) and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotama) in the Millennium Falcon. It’s a brief moment that almost presents an alternate Star Wars universe, one in which all the main characters are black and drive the narrative.

Speaking of Lando, there were early theories that Jannah was going to be revealed as his daughter, which turns out to not be the case. Ackie understands why people gravitated toward the theory, even while she laughs at it.

“The theme of Star Wars is always trying to find family...abandoned children who don’t know who their parents are and I think that’s partially that,” she says. “But, obviously, again, does every white person who’s in a film get connected to another person in a film? Probably not. I think if anything, it goes to show that there’s probably not enough people of color in these films so that they can just wander around not being connected.”

Lando and Jannah do spend time together, however, toward the end of the film. The iconic general asks her where she’s from and Jannah replies that she’s unsure. “Let’s find out,” Lando responds. Though their story ends right there, it’s implied that Lando and Jannah might zip back off into the galaxy, on a mission to find her real home. It’s also perhaps a back door for a Jannah spinoff series, setting the course for a brand new Star Wars narrative (though Disney has not announced any such projects). However, it also ties back to those early fan theories; it’s since been revealed that in the Rise of Skywalker companion book, Lando tried to start a family after the events of the first trilogy, but his infant daughter was abducted by the First Order. The film doesn’t include this detail, but the fact that the First Order frequently kidnapped children is referenced by other characters, namely Zorii Bliss (Keri Russell). So...does that give the theories about Jannah and Lando being related a bit more credence? Sure. But Ackie’s not revealing secrets one way or another.

“I love the ending for Jannah, because even if it doesn’t end up being a thing in its own right, the imagination of this young black woman going off into the galaxy and exploring and going on an adventure is just a heartwarming thought,” Ackie said.

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