Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Who is Poe Dameron?
You’ve seem him lead a squadron of X-Wing fighters skimming across a lake, you’ve heard him loose a “WHOOP” of excitement, but what do you really know about the new and mysterious pilot in Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Here’s what we do know: Poe Dameron is portrayed by actor Oscar Isaac, who has some pretty big films both under his belt, and on the way to being under his belt.
He starred in the critically acclaimed EX_MACHINA, he was a trained assassin in The Bourne Legacy and played a corrupt orderly in Sucker Punch. But, besides his upcoming role in arguably the most anticipated film of 2015 (The Force Awakens…of course), Isaac will portray the most evil and larger than life villain in the Marvel universe, Apocalypse, in the newest X-Men movie for 2016, X-Men: Apocalypse.
Back to Poe Dameron, what do we really know about him? Well, for one, he’s definitely a pilot who seems to be the squadron leader of a compliment of X-Wings. His particular starfigther is The T-70 X-wing fighter which is a modern variation of the classic design X-wing starfighter used by the Rebel Alliance in the Battle for Endor. The new T-70 is used by the newly named Resistance, in their fight against the First Order. We have also seen Poe with two different colored variations of the T-70 X-Wing…one being blue, while the other is a more stealthy black.
Isaac has also stated that his character, Poe Dameron, is from the planet of Yavin 4, which is where the Rebel Alliance had a military instillation in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. There is more to the mysterious Poe Dameron, as Oscar Isaac himself stated that he was “the best fricken pilot in the galaxy.” It has also been revealed that Poe’s role in The Force Awakens, comes from a mission that he is given from a certain princess (Carrie Fisher’s Princess/Queen Leia). During this mission Poe crosses paths with John Boyega’s Finn. Knowing full well that the actors can’t reveal too much in the way of the plot of The Force Awakens, Isaac did state that his [Poe] and Finn’s fates are forever intertwined.
What does this mean? Here’s where we wildly speculate. In a recent run of Marvel Star Wars comics #6 (which are now considered official Star Wars canon), a new character was revealed to be Han Solo’s wife, before he ever met Leia. In fact, according to the story, Han’s estranged wife — Sana Solo — is a woman of color. Could Finn be the son of that union? And, further speculating, could Poe be the son of Han and Leia? It would make sense that their fates are forever intertwined, using Isaac’s own words. Also, it would be a neat connection to Poe’s claim that he is the best pilot in the galaxy, a title previously owned by Han, himself.
Regardless if Poe Dameron is related to Han and Leia, or Finn, his story in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is sure to be an exciting one. Whether he’s a spy for the Resistance, or a man trying to connect his past, Poe is sure to bring some fun with his piloting skills, and I am sure we will get to see him blast some TIE Fighters out of the sky…I can’t wait.