There was a time, long ago, when Star Wars and diversity weren’t exactly the talk of the town. The Rebellion was led and chock-full of white guys, Leia was the only woman in sight until Return of the Jedi introduced Mon Mothma to the world. Lando seemed to be the only black guy in the universe. And then the prequels arrived and we had diverse characters like Mace Windu and Bail Organa but they still were not the main event of the story. They were only pieces of the puzzle that made up a trilogy about three white heroes, Anakin Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi, and Padme Amidala.

Then Disney bought Star Wars and suddenly diversity was thrust into our faces in a blunt way. Remember the first teaser trailer for The Force Awakens and how it literally began; Finn, a black stormtrooper, pops onto the screen breathing heavily on a planet that, at the time, looked like Tatooine. Suddenly, it was very clear this was a new era of Star Wars. An era where its major black hero in the story wielded Luke Skywalker’s lightsaber on the official poster.

And since then, the diversity has not come to a close.

One of the few great things about the Sequel Trilogy has been the diversity. I mean, when have you ever seen three major characters of color in one scene together in Star Wars like this particular scene in The Last Jedi? Heh, never! It’s been a fantastic change for the franchise and now that the floodgates are open it’s pretty much never going to end.

So, for this week’s Who’s Your Favorite? I’m asking you which is your favorite diverse character in the franchise? (This list will not include the cartoon characters.) Continue reading Who’s Your Favorite Diverse ‘Star Wars’ Character? →