Although John Boyega had already been seen in smaller projects like Attack the Block and 24: Live Another Day ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ release, his time in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy most definitely propelled him to worldwide fame. With The Rise of Skywalker having wrapped up this era of the Star Wars franchise, John Boyega recently noted how he’s moved on from his time as Finn in a galaxy far, far away, and that caused quite the kerfuffle.
Now John Boyega has clarified his comment about his Star Wars retirement, saying that his desire to move on isn’t due to ill will towards Finn, but just wanting to embark on new performing endeavors. In the actor’s words:
Isn’t that what people do when a role is done? Or .... it’s not that deep. I am grateful but yes you should close the door for a long time if anything. Key word is versalitilly. One role cannot fulfill that. Lol let me do my job and you lot just watch please. The lines are too blurred lol
This all started when someone commented on one of John Boyega’s Instagram posts about how they’d like to see Finn return in the next Star Wars movies dressed in all black, wielding a green lightsaber and using the Force, leading Boyega to respond, “lol no thank you. I’ve moved on.” Thanks to his clarifying statements on Twitter, it’s clear that Boyega is simply looking for new ways to expand his resume, and while there may come a point where he’s game for reprising Finn, that won’t happen for a long time.
Considering that The Rise of Skywalker only came out last December, and that upcoming Star Wars movies aren’t expected to tie into the Skywalker Saga, it’s hardly shocking that Finn, let alone Daisy Ridley’s Rey or Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron, won’t be returning to the big screen anytime soon. Sure, we might see these characters again in novels, comic books or video games, but as far as the actors reprising these roles in live-action, should that day come, I imagine it’ll be something similar to when Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher and Harrison Ford came back long after the Original Trilogy had ended, i.e. decades down the proverbial road.
Of course, one wouldn’t blame John Boyega for wanting to get some distance from Finn right now. Not only has the actor talked about how he disagreed with some of the creative choices made for his character, he’s also dealt with social media outcry from fans dissatisfied with Finn’s arc in The Rise of Skywalker.
While it sounds like John Boyega overall knows that scoring one of the lead roles in the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy was quite the accomplishment and has a huge boon for his career, he also doesn’t want his life to be Star Wars-centric. As such, for the near future anyway, he’s setting Finn aside, so barring the character showing up in other media, you’ll just have to imagine what the character’s up to in the years after The Rise of Skywalker.
John Boyega’s upcoming work includes the movies Naked Singularity, Rebel Ridge and Borderland. Along with the Star Wars movies, his other credits in recent years include The Circle, Detroit, Pacific Rim Uprising and Watership Down.
Stay tuned to CinemaBlend for more Star Wars news and updates on John Boyega’s career. For now, head to our 2020 release schedule to learn what movies are supposed to come out later this year.
