John Boyega’s Finn makes of one-third of the core protagonists in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy, the others being Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron. So naturally Finn will be back in action for the final chapter of said trilogy, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, and Boyega fought to ensure that Finn had a bigger presence. As the actor told a fan who was disappointed by how Finn was utilized in The Last Jedi:
While there’s no question that Finn was an integral player in the last two Skywalker Saga movies, The Last Jedi did separate him from Rey and Poe Dameron by having him go off with Rose Tico and BB-8 to find a slicer on Canto Bight to deactivate The First Order’s tracking device. Ultimately their efforts were for naught thanks to a betrayal from Benicio del Toro’s DJ, but at least Finn still defeated Captain Phasma, his former superior officer.
This time around, as John Boyega laid out on Twitter, he was insistent that Finn have more to do in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Since Boyega was willing to share this information to the public, we can assume that the Lucasfilm brass, including director J.J. Abrams, agreed to his request. So count on Finn having a more significant role to play in The Rise of Skywalker, and Boyega is hoping fans will like what they see.
Even with just a little over a month to go until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker’s release, a lot of plot details are still being kept under wraps, including what’s in store for Finn. When we last left off with him on the big screen, he had been saved by Rose Tico from making a suicide run on The First Order, and both of them made it off Crait with the other Resistance survivors aboard the Millennium Falcon.
You can learn more about what happened to Finn in the year that passed between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker by reading the novel Resistance Reborn. But regarding the latter movie, while we’ve seen snippets of Finn in action with his Resistance allies (and wearing new threads), it’s difficult to put the pieces together and guess what will happen to him. Will he specifically deal a crippling blow to The First Order’s operations? Will he become a Jedi? Will he and Poe Dameron finally admit their feelings for one another? It’s all up in the air.
Regardless, considering that John Boyega thinks Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be his last time playing Finn, it’s no wonder he asked that Finn have more involvement. The character will undoubtedly keep being explored through novels, comic books and maybe even a video game or two, but if Boyega is correct, The Rise of Skywalker is his final opportunity to leave a meaningful impression as Finn on the fans, so he didn’t want to waste these 155 minutes.
Other familiar faces returning for Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker beyond our core trio of good guys include Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, Domhnall Gleeson’s General Hux, Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose Tico, Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian and Ian McDiarmid’s Palpatine, as well as unused footage of Carrie Fisher from The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi being utilized for Leia Organa to appear. The new characters include Naomi Ackie’s Jannah, Richard E. Grant’s Allegiant General Pryde and Keri Russell’s Zorii Bliss.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens on December 20, so keep checking back with CinemaBlend for more coverage in the weeks ahead. You can also plan your visits to the theater for the rest of the year with our 2019 release schedule.
