John Boyega Criticizes Star Wars’ Handling Of Finn

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John Boyega Criticizes Star Wars’ Handling Of Finn

John Boyega criticizes the way Finn was handled in the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Despite all grossing over $1 billion at the worldwide box office, the three installments of Disney's modern trilogy proved to be divisive for various reasons. The Last Jedi was arguably the most polarizing of the bunch, but The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker faced their fair share of critiques as well. If anything, the response to the movies proved it is impossible to please all Star Wars fans - something even J.J. Abrams was well aware of when making The Rise of Skywalker. As it turns out, that applies to Star Wars actors too.

Boyega isn't afraid to publicly comment on his issues with the new Star Wars movies, as evidenced by him throwing shade at (and spoiling) The Rise of Skywalker's controversial Reylo kiss. He's also revealed he disagreed with some of the creative choices made in The Last Jedi, particularly when it came to Finn and Rose's storyline. And as Boyega begins the post-Star Wars phase of his career, he believes Finn could have been handled much better throughout the entire trilogy.

In an interview with GQ, Boyega discussed Star Wars' poor handling of people of color in the films, including himself, Kelly Marie Tran, Oscar Isaac, and Naomi Ackie. He said Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver received "all the nuance" in their characters, while the others were sidelined:

[But] what I would say to Disney is do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up. Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver. You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f*** all. So what do you want me to say? What they want you to say is, ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience...’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience. They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest. Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything.”

Boyega's comments could be interpreted as a jab at the Force Awakens marketing campaign, which depicted Finn wielding the classic Skywalker lightsaber. At the time, that led some fans to believe Finn would be a Jedi in training in the film. However, it was a red herring to disguise the fact The Force Awakens was about Rey's journey instead. Lucasfilm is known for its secretive approach to advertising, but it's easy to see why that may not have sit well with Boyega. There's never been a Black Jedi as the lead in a Star Wars movie (Mace Windu had a supporting role in the prequels), and Finn was initially sold to audiences as a potentially groundbreaking character. To ultimately be little more than a bait-and-switch had to have been frustrating for Boyega, who was passionate about playing Finn. During the making of The Rise of Skywalker, he was adamant Finn be more involved than in the previous entries.

Misleading marketing aside, Boyega's criticisms are valid when looking at the other people of color in the sequel trilogy. The Rise of Skywalker in particular was widely panned for reducing Rose Tico to a glorified cameo (she has 76 seconds of screen time). As the sequel trilogy progressed Rey and Kylo Ren's conflict became a greater focus in the films. Since they were the main protagonist and antagonist that makes sense, but it also doesn't excuse the filmmakers for coming up short with the other characters. Disney has new Star Wars movies planned to come out starting in 2023,