“Star Wars” celebrated Transgender Day of Visibility on Wednesday by featuring two trans non-binary Jedi Knights on the new cover for Marvel’s “Star Wars: The High Republic” comic series.
“The production company debuted a new cover for Marvel’s ‘Star Wars: The High Republic’ comic series on Instagram, featuring two recently announced Jedi, a pair of twins, who are trans and non-binary,” reports CBS News. “The cover will be used for the series’ sixth issue, which is set to be released on June 30.”
The Instagram account said the new characters would be “broadening” representation in the “Star Wars” universe.
“In honor of #TransDayofVisibility we’re proud to unveil and exclusive cover highlighting Terec and Ceret, trans non-binary Jedi, currently featured in Marvel’s The High Republic comic,” it said. “We support trans lives and we are passionate and committed to broadening our representation in a galaxy far far [a]way.”
Cavan Scott, the writer of the comic series, confirmed in March that Terec and Ceret would be “trans non-binary Jedi.”
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Meet Terec and Ceret in this special preview of STAR WARS: THE HIGH REPUBLIC #2 – out next weds from @Marvel
Script: me
Art: @arioanin
Inks: @mark_morales11
Colours: @LeoniAnnaLisa86
Letters: @CommentAiry
Editors: @MarkPaniccia & @TommyGWrites https://t.co/ReH8Ssqyzr pic.twitter.com/2zL014uJQ5— Cavan Scott (@cavanscott) January 27, 2021
In 2018, prior to the release of “Solo,” screenwriter Jonathan Kasdan confirmed that the beloved character Lando was pansexual, meaning someone who swings for all different sorts of teams.
“There’s a fluidity to Donald and Billy Dee’s [portrayal of Lando’s] sexuality,” Kasdan told the Huffington Post at the time. “I mean, I would have loved to have gotten a more explicitly LGBT character into this movie. I think it’s time, certainly, for that, and I love the fluidity – sort of the spectrum of sexuality that Donald appeals to and that droids are a part of.”
“He doesn’t make any hard and fast rules. I think it’s fun,” Kasdan said. “I don’t know where it will go.”
Kasdan also indicated that the movie dropped hints about sexuality in the “Star Wars” universe and how it differs from our world.
“There’s a line that [Jon Favreau’s character, Rio] has where he’s asking Han about the girl that he left behind, and he says, ‘Does she have big teeth?’” Jonathan Kasdan explained. “It’s a joke in the movie, but we did want to hit on this idea that people’s ideas of what they’re attracted to all over the galaxy are very, very different and not exactly as set as ours are.”
“Solo” went on to drastically underperform at the box office.
Later, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” went as far as to feature the series’ first same-sex lesbian kiss on-screen that came after director J.J. Abrams promised to represent the LGBTQ community.
“In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film,” Abrams told Variety. “I will say I’m giving away nothing about what happens in the movie. But I did just say what I just said.”