Kelly Marie Tran would be up for a queer Raya and the Last Dragon sequel
Kelly Marie Tran has stated that she would be “overjoyed” to work on a Raya and the Last Dragon sequel that featured a queer romance between her character and protagonist Raya, and her arch-nemesis Namaari (Gemma Chan).
Speaking to Insider, Tran (also known for her role as Rose Tico in the Star Wars sequels) said how it was “f***ing awesome” she got to play the lead role of Raya, a warrior who unites Kumandra against a great evil with the help of the last dragon Sifu (Awkwafina), and the people she meets along the way. It was a role that quickly had queer viewers taking a second glance, particularly due to Raya’s tense, but endearing relationship with Namaari, her enemy.
The relationship between the two starts when they meet each other as children. Raya has been taught by her father to believe in the best of people, meaning she quickly befriends Namaari despite her being from a rival organization. The two have a lot in common being the same age and both having the same adoration for Sifu, the last dragon. Yet this friendship ends up being something that Raya later regrets as Namaari quickly betrays her, causing her father and others to turn to stone.
Raya and Namaari’s relationship as adults is full of tension, often trying to outdo one another and pushing at each other’s buttons in a way that had many queer fans reaching for their laptops to type up their enemies-to-lovers fanfiction.
But, according to Kelly Marie Tran at least, if it was up to her to create a Raya and the Last Dragon sequel, Raya and Namaari being lovers wouldn’t stop at fanfiction. “I will speak for myself and say I would be overjoyed to explore that in any sort of sequel in any shape or fashion,” Tran said. She did note that she couldn’t speak for Disney or her co-stars, including Namaari’s voice actress Gemma Chan.
It isn’t the first time that Tran has spoken out about seeing Raya as gay. Speaking to Vanity Fair, Tran commented that she felt there were “some romantic feelings going on there” between Raya and Namaari. Of course, that was never acted upon within the film itself.
Disney certainly hasn’t shied away from having queer-coded protagonists and villains, just look at Elsa from Frozen and how many theories have cropped up about The Madrigals from Encanto. Unfortunately, Disney is also under fire for trying to crush these stories from ever being told in the first place, and then there’s funding the sponsors for anti-LGBTQ+ bills and legislation…
But if Disney ever wanted to turn their reputation around, a queer Raya and the Last Dragon sequel would probably help.
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