Star Wars has always been a universe filled with star-crossed lovers, especially in the sequel trilogy. Seemingly any pairing of main characters has a potential romantic relationship that fans have backed with evidence from the films: Finn and Poe Dameron, Finn and Rose Tico, Rey Skywalker and Ben Solo. Even Chewbacca and Maz Kanata seem to have a little romance going between them.
One of the pairings that seemed to be on the forefront of The Force Awakens was Finn and Rey. The on-screen chemistry between John Boyega and Daisy Ridley made the two fun to watch on screen together, and fans were quick to begin calls for the two characters to fall in love.
The first film in the trilogy seemed to be laying the groundwork for a potential romance between the two protagonists. In Episode VII, despite his desire to get as far away from the First Order as possible, Finn stays and joins the resistance in part to save Rey.
But does Finn want Rey to be his Valentine or his friend?
Further fuel was added to the Finn/Rey fire with the release of The Rise of Skywalker. Throughout Episode IX, Finn attempts to grab the attention of Rey, clearly with something urgent to tell her. As he, Rey, and the rest of the protagonists sink into quicksand, Finn declares “Rey, I never told you-“ before they all are swallowed by the quicksand and fall into the cave beneath.
For some reason, what Finn has to urgently tell Rey is never answered in the film. However, actor John Boyega and director J.J. Abrams have made it clear that Finn was not going to declare his love for Rey.
Following the release of the film in December 2019, Boyega took to Twitter to clear some things up about Finn and Rey.
No... Finn wasn’t going to say I love you before sinking!
— John Boyega (@JohnBoyega) December 23, 2019
In a Q and A following the release of the film, Abrams declared that what Finn wanted to tell Rey is that he was Force-sensitive. This revelation is also hinted at during the final battle and is confirmed in The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special.
So does Finn love Rey? No, not like that. The films and comments made from those involved in making the trilogy have made clear that despite seeming to have some romantic tension between them, there is nothing going on between Rey and Finn.
That’s not to say that our two heroes don’t share a strong bond, just that it’s one that won’t result in a wedding where they first met on Jakku, despite however much some fans may want that ending.