Poe Dameron Should Have Had a Full Beard in ‘The Rise of Skywalker’
The Last Jedi was one of the most controversial movies for Star Wars fans, and one common complaint actually had to do with time.
The Last Jedi starts immediately after The Force Awakens ended, and this meant that everything that happens in those two movies happens within a very short span of time. The final movie in the sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, aimed at fixing that small issue by doing a time skip into the future.
In order to visually show that, the filmmakers decided to change the characters’ looks so that they look a little older. For John Boyega’s Finn, he grew long hair, but Star Wars fans argue that Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron should’ve grown a full beard, too.
The time skip in ‘The Rise of Skywalker’
One of the main reasons why a time skip was very necessary for The Rise of Skywalker was because of what happened at the end of The Last Jedi. The New Republic has been crippled and the Resistance has been decimated as well. This left the heroes with few resources to fight against the might of the First Order.
As a result, for The Rise of Skywalker, the time skip served as a way to cover ground that wasn’t necessary to show in the movie. But at the same time, since the heroes were slowly rebuilding the Resistance, they also had to look grittier and more rugged as they were fighting an uphill battle.
A couple of characters did look the part, but Star Wars fans argue that Poe didn’t.
Fans think that Poe Dameron should have had a beard
According to Star Wars fans on Reddit, Poe should’ve grown a beard because it would’ve made him look “rougher.” Star Wars fans also argue that everyone in the Resistance should’ve had a beard as well in order to show just how rough things have got. As one fan said: “Poe needed a beard, Rey needed her hair down, Finn needed brighter colors.”
One fan noted that in Colin Trevorrow’s scrapped script for the movie, even Kylo Ren would’ve had a beard. That beard would’ve been an easy way for the movie to show audiences that Kylo Ren has been busy searching for something for a long time.
Another fan even went as far as to say that the “biggest misstep of the sequels” was not giving Poe and Han Solo a beard.
Star Wars fans were reacting to a picture of Isaac with a full beard from the Dune trailer. Many of those fans simply liked the way Isaac looked with a full beard, but there are other good reasons why Poe should’ve had a beard in The Rise of Skywalker.
Why Poe Dameron should’ve had a beard
Beards in movies and TV shows serve a lot of functions. They can show audiences that a lot of time has passed, that the character has neglected shaving for one reason or another, and surprisingly, that the movie or show has got its groove back.
Like Syfy wrote, in Star Trek: The Next Generation, fans generally felt lukewarm about the early seasons of the show. But in season three, one of the show’s main characters grew a beard. At the same time, the show actually became good in the eyes of many fans.
This became a thing of its own, and having a character grow a beard has become an easy way to tell fans that things are good again.
Plus, Poe basically became the leader of the Resistance, despite being a relatively young character in the movies. An easy way to show that Poe isn’t that young anymore would be to have him grow a beard out.
