John Boyega Would Love to See Finn’s Axed ‘Star Wars’ Storyline Get Told on TV or Animation
Zack Sharf
John Boyega openly criticized the most recent “Star Wars” trilogy for sidelining its characters of color, including his character Finn and Kelly Marie Tran’s Rose, so what does the actor think of the original storyline that got axed? A script leak for Colin Trevorrow’s scrapped Episode IX, titled “Duel of the Fates,” revealed Finn was originally going to end the trilogy by becoming a revolutionary and leading a class rebellion along with Rose on the galactic capital planet of Coruscant. The axed storyline would’ve completed Finn’s arc from defected Stormtrooper in “The Force Awakens” to the leader of an ex-Stormtrooper uprising in “The Rise of Skywalker.”
Trevorrow’s “Duel of the Fates” was rewritten by Chris Terrio and J.J. Abrams, and Finn’s revolutionary storyline was erased and redrafted as a much smaller role in what became “The Rise of Skywalker.” Finn’s original storyline lives on in “Star Wars” concept art, which Boyega has seen and tells Yahoo he would have loved to see through.
“I think Colin Trevorrow was going to tell that story,” Boyega said. “The concept art in the ‘Star Wars’ book has that image of Finn with the blue flag, and you have the AT-ATs lined up with tribal marks, and the stormtroopers take off their helmets. That would have been sick. That would have been dope, hands down.”
Boyega said he’s a big fan of the Disney+ “Star Wars” series “The Mandalorian” (“Lucasfilm is doing very well with TV shows”), which is why he’d love to watch Finn’s original story arc get completed on TV (“If they could do it all in TV, I would love to watch it”). Does that mean Boyega would return as Finn? Not quite, although he expressed more interest in returning when pitched an animated series to complete Finn’s arc. “Animated? Yeah that would be cool,” Boyega said. “You could do it all from home.”
As for why he spoke out against the “Star Wars” trilogy for sidelining Finn, Boyega said, “I’m just trying to do what I was offered and I’m trying to fulfill my job. We all know that what makes roles so lucrative [are] the moments you give them. If Captain America doesn’t show out and show down and isn’t given the scenes to boost his representation, and to make him enjoyable for you guys, we won’t think he’s cool. Why shouldn’t Black characters and Black actors also fight for that same kind of representation?”
Boyega next appears in Steve McQueen’s “Small Axe” anthology series.
