Lucasfilm’s Next ‘Star Wars’ Tale Might Finally Embrace Diverse Love Stories

Star Wars is finally leaning into something new — but maybe it should have embraced it a long time ago.

Lucasfilm’s upcoming novel, “Star Wars: Eyes Like Stars”, written by Ashley Poston and announced at NYCC’s Lucasfilm Publishing panel (via StarWars.com), is being billed as the franchise’s “first official romance”.

But the story also has the potential to reshape how love and identity are explored in a galaxy that’s rarely ventured outside traditional relationships.

Set roughly a year and a half before Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015), the young adult novel follows two original characters navigating life, loss, and affection under the growing shadow of the First Order.

While its marketing paints it as a straightforward YA (young adult) adventure, the shift toward emotional storytelling is notable for a franchise better known for rebellion and space battles than vulnerability.

For all its diversity of species and worlds, Star Wars has shown remarkably little LGBTQ representation. The most notable example remains the quick, barely visible kiss between two women in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019), a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment that Disney promoted heavily but failed to make meaningful onscreen.

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The young adult genre has long been a testing ground for inclusivity, and “Eyes Like Stars” could quietly push the franchise toward greater emotional honesty — whether or not it explicitly addresses queerness.

Star Wars has spent much of the past decade focused on scale and politics. Andor (2022) and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016) won critical praise for their grit, but they left little space for warmth. A book like “Eyes Like Stars” could change that balance, reintroducing empathy, connection, and maybe even the kind of love that transcends labels.

Whether or not it’s the start of something larger, this novel represents a welcome step for a franchise still learning how to reflect the galaxy of fans that’s grown up with it.

Will you be reading the new Star Wars romance novel? Let us know in the comments!