John Boyega Gets Honest About ‘Star Wars’ Flaws, Disagreeing With ‘Last Jedi’ Choices

Zack Sharf

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John Boyega has not hid the fact that he is excited for his “Star Wars” character Finn to step into a more action-driven role in the upcoming “Rise of Skywalker.” The actor believes Finn got somewhat sidelined from the main action in “The Last Jedi,” and he makes his thoughts on the matter clear in an honest new interview with Hypebeast. Boyega indirectly blames “The Last Jedi” for throwing off the positive momentum started by “The Force Awakens” by separating the main characters played by Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, and himself.

“’The Force Awakens’ I think was the beginning of something quite solid, ‘The Last Jedi’ if I’m being honest I’d say that was feeling a bit iffy for me,” Boyega said. “I didn’t necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and that’s something that I spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about, and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated.”

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For Boyega, separating the main characters in “The Last Jedi” was a critical flaw that reduced the power of the new “Star Wars” trilogy when compared to the three original films. The actor says that while Luke was the main character in the first three “Star Wars” movies, the films never underdeveloped Han and Leia and ensured they were as important to the main narrative. The dynamic among those three characters is not the same as the dynamic between Finn, Poe, and Rey, at least not yet.

“I guess in the original ‘Star Wars’ films there was much more of a trio feel where it was essentially about Luke’s journey, but, Han and Leia, there was a strong dynamic,” Boyega said. “Which I think, I don’t know how quickly we’re going to be able to establish that long-term dynamic with [Episode] IX, but if it’s exploring that dynamic, then that would be cool. I do feel even after three films still, we don’t know them as much as we got to know Han, Luke, Leia. And maybe that’s a great opportunity to get to know them a little bit more.”

Whether or not “Star Wars” can fix Boyega’s biggest quibble with the new trilogy in “The Rise of Skywalker” will be revealed later this month. Disney is opening “The Rise of Skywalker” in theaters nationwide December 20.

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