John Boyega was part of the Star Wars sequel trilogy from 2015 to 2019 as Finn, a stormtrooper turned Resistance fighter. While Finn showed a lot of promise in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, his character got sidelined to focus more on Rey’s story – and Boyega is now expressing what he wished happened during the sequel trilogy.
Fans to this day are still mad over how Finn’s story turned out during the sequel trilogy. His story first developed in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as a stormtrooper who was taken away from his family as a baby and sold to the First Order only to escape and be part of the Resistance movement. But then in the next two movies, he was reduced to more of a sidekick role. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Boyega spoke about what he would have liked to see in sequel trilogy and what he was iffy about. Said the actor,
To a certain extent, there should have been a Stormtrooper rebellion. And then to flesh out Luke’s character a bit more. Give him more moments of redemption, which I feel like was needed after VIII [The Last Jedi]. I feel like Star Wars fans needed more time with those characters that we love so much.
It is true that all of these characters spent a lot of the most recent Star Wars trilogy separated instead of being together fighting against a common enemy. When Han Solo died at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, he never got the chance to reunite with Luke Skywalker, who chose to live in exile after Solo’s son turned to the Dark Side. While Rey got plenty of time to bond with the iconic trio, Finn really only had snippet moments with them.
The 30-year-old actor also told Vanity Fair that he wished the original characters had more time to pass the baton to the new characters. He makes a good point considering the original characters died in each movie with the order of Han, Luke, and then Leia (due to Carrie Fisher's untimely death).
Despite the British actor’s lost battle of fighting for more Finn in Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker, he still considered himself a massive Star Wars fan. He expressed to Vanity Fair that he still watches the Star Wars spinoff series The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. As for if he’d ever return to play Finn again, he said it would only be in if co-stars Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaac would come back too. But until then, Boyega considers himself Star Wars retired.
While the Star Wars sequel trilogy was a great way for John Boyega to make a name for himself in the entertainment world, his post-Star Wars life has been a great one. He has three films coming out this year including the Sundance thriller Breaking about the true story of a former Marine Corps veteran who robs a bank after the Department of Veterans Affairs stops sending him disability checks. Fans will see him play King Ghezo in the historical epic The Woman King on September 16, and the Netflix drama They Cloned Tyrone coming sometime this year.
John Boyega may have his complaints about Star Wars, but he is still a massive part of the beloved franchise. You can see him play Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy with a Disney+ subscription.
