As the final chapter in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy and the entire Skywalker Saga, this December’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has a lot of ground to cover. There are major plot threads to wrap up and characters new, old and returning who need to get their due. One of those characters is John Boyega’s Finn, and it seems that we’ll be getting more of Finn in The Rise of Skywalker, with J.J. Abrams promising that we’ll finally learn more about the character’s past. The director said:
I would say that each of the characters get more light shed on their histories. I’m not saying we get full, exhaustive downloads on all of their childhoods and every major step that got them to where they are. But there are a lot of questions about Finn’s past, about Poe’s past, obviously Rey and Kylo, and then some of the new characters we meet.
While the origins of Rey, as well as Kylo, are of intense interest to Star Wars fans, they won’t be the only ones getting some shine in The Rise of Skywalker. As J.J. Abrams told Vanity Fair, all of the main characters will be getting a bit more backstory in this film, including Finn, played by John Boyega, a noted script leaker. As J.J. Abrams noted, there are a lot of questions about Finn’s past, and The Rise of Skywalker will provide some answers.
J.J. Abrams was sure to manage expectations by saying that The Rise of Skywalker won’t necessarily provide a complete backstory for Finn or any of the other characters that explicitly details their journeys from infancy to the events of Episode IX. But the film will provide insight into their pasts, and for Finn, that presumably means letting us in on his origins and life before he became a stormtrooper.
At this point, we don’t know much about Finn’s past, which makes sense because neither does he. All we know is that the stormtrooper designated FN-2187 was conscripted as a child into the ranks of the First Order. He was taken from his family at an early age and trained to work for the would-be Empire. That’s about it; we don’t even know his birth name, if he even had one.
We don’t know what planet Finn is from or who his people were. It’s incredibly sad because he doesn’t even have the memory of something to miss. His life is only what it has been since he’s been a stormtrooper and after he deserted. Since he was taken at such a young age, it seems that unless The Rise of Skywalker delves into his life as a stormtrooper, we’ll get some information about his true origins and perhaps his family.
I doubt we’ll get flashbacks, so it will be interesting to see how Finn’s past is revealed. For Oscar Isaac’s Poe, who J.J. Abrams also said we’d be getting more of a backstory for, we know that Keri Russell’s Zorii Bliss and him have history together. So perhaps another new character will provide information on Finn’s past: Naomi Ackie’s Jannah.
This is purely speculative, but we do see Jannah and Finn together in the trailer for The Rise of Skywalker. Maybe she is part of the family he left behind; like a sister. Although there is speculation that she could be Lando's daughter, this is another possibility. The brother was taken by the First Order and wound up living a completely different life from his sister, with the sister missing her long lost brother and him never knowing she existed.
There would definitely be some Luke/Leia parallels with this approach; just maybe don't kiss her until you get a DNA test, Finn. Because as big as that galaxy far, far away is, a lot of people are related, so it's best to avoid any Lannister/Targaryen ickiness. If nothing else, it is good to hear that we will be learning more about all of these characters as this will be the last big screen opportunity for us to do so, at least for now, as far as we know.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker blasts into theaters on December 20. Check out our 2020 Release Schedule to see what big movies are coming out next year.
