Recently, Maryann Brandon commented on her role in including the Rey and Ben kiss scene in Rise of Skywalker. She revealed how she had to fight to keep it in the movie. This revelation prompts several questions, including whether this scene was good for character development, what it reflects about the film, and what the editing process was like.
Table of Contents
The Kiss Scene Revealed
At the 2025 WorldCon Convention, editor Maryann Brandon spoke about the “big controversy” over whether Rey and Ben should kiss at the end of The Rise of Skywalker or not. As Brandon explained, “I’m a romantic, so I really wanted the kiss.” To support that ending, she “worked very hard” to include it and “convinced a lot of people to put it in.”
Brandon felt this was a necessary move, especially since Kylo was going to die. Yet, “everyone had an opinion”, and the decision to include it became controversial. Brandon continued to comment on how she thought she “cut 15 different versions” of the scene and became an item she was “most verbose about.”
As with the movie, the decision to include this scene sparked divisive points, such as these posts here. Some fans thought it didn’t make sense while others believed it fit well with their relationship. These comments seque way us into considering the implications of the kiss scene for the movie.
Questions About the Scene
Whether the scene was good for Rey and Ben’s character arc is one question that arose after the release of the movie and rekindled with Brandon’s revelation. We may think it fits well with how their characters were connecting through the Force, but it may conclude more that it seemed forced.
This article conveys how this scene is among those “moments” that “felt too forced and cheesy to audience members.” In 2022 and 2025, we may see the fight to include the kiss scene as “unsuccessful”, especially because of a lack of “prior ground” to establish this romantic connection. Efforts by Disney to cast the kiss as “familial” only made the scene more confusing.
However, last year, Daisy Ridley defended the decision to keep the scene, which provides a way to consider how the kiss scene provided a positive aspect of the film. Ridley commented on how their kiss “felt earned” and liked its “intentionality.” On that note, we could see how this move was a way to lift up the movie at the end. It served as a way for the character to say “goodbye” but also to provide a more positive emotional finale.
That positive contribution may be put in the context of the divided views on the movie. As Brandon previously commented, the kiss scene was something that J.J. Abrams also wanted and was intended to please everyone. The scene was part of their effort to contribute to “the phenomenon of ‘Star Wars.’”
On the other hand, that Brandon had to fight so hard to keep the scene and do so many cuts speaks to a behind-the-scenes divisiveness. As a fan noted on this discussion, “If she had to do 15 cuts to convince them to keep the kiss,” it was most likely “an active wildfire zone in that editing room”.
This critique about a messiness in the editing room coincides with the claim that the trilogy suffered from a lack of planning. This video explores that idea in more detail, including for the last installment a too-tight timeline, misdirection with the story, and arguments over scenes to leave in and out.
Rise of Skywalker and the Kiss Scene
Like the film, we may respond positively or negatively to the kiss scene in Rise of Skywalker. Editor Maryann Brandon’s struggle to include this scene may have resulted in a forced character connection but an overall positive ending. Her efforts may also reveal the divided nature of the creative process to make a divided movie.