Blame Spielberg for What Didn't Happen at End of Twisters

(Spoilers ahead, so stop reading now if you don't want to know what happens.)

Moviegoers who've been flocking to see Twisters, the stand-alone sequel to 1996's Twister, are now likely hoping for Part III—if only to see a consummation of the romantic relationship between the storm-chasing characters played by Glen Powell and Daisy Edgar-Jones. That's because, after building up the sexual tension for the entire film, Powell's Tyler Owens and Edgar-Jones' Kate Carter don't share a final kiss, despite getting awfully close to doing so.

• Spielberg to blame/thank? It's emerging that the esteemed director himself, a producer on the film, is apparently the reason for leaving audiences hanging. Both Powell and Edgar-Jones tell Collider that it was a "Spielberg note" that put the ixnay on the isskay, and that they both agree it was a smart call.

• Edgar-Jones: "It stops the film feeling too cliched, actually. I think there's something really wonderful about it feeling like there's a continuation. This isn't the end of their story. They're united by their shared passion for something."
• Powell: "This movie is not about them finding love. It's returning Kate to the thing that she loves, which is storm chasing. ... I feel like a kiss would be sort of unrepresentative of the right goal at the end of the movie." He adds: "It is a good Spielberg note. It's why that kid is still in this game."
• Twisters director Lee Isaac Chung: He tells Entertainment Weekly that he believes the no-kiss ending is the better one. "I think that people who want a kiss within it, they can probably assume that these guys will kiss someday," he says. "And maybe we can give them privacy for that."
• Dissent: Not everyone agrees with this more high-minded approach to cinema in a popcorn summer blockbuster. "With all due respect to everyone involved in the best theatrical experience of my year: No. Why not both?" writes Adrian Horton for the Guardian. "Can a woman not have it all? Would having a little sexual payoff in this movie of competing pressure systems, in this summer of dismal forecasts, really detract from the character's independence?"
• We'll give you what you want: If your life won't be complete until you witness that final smooch, here's a leaked clip from the cutting room floor (yes, it exists), with the accompanying caption: "Always remember what they took from us."

(More Twisters stories.)