John Boyega Now 'Comfortable' With Finns Portrayal in the Sequel Trilogy

I know he isn't making any big declaration, he's simply stating that he's found peace with the character but every 6-9 months we get a new John Boyega story detailing his current view of Finn and his willingness to return to the franchise. He has never been fully consistent, which is understandable, there are a lot of complicated feelings there, but it means I don't really put much stock into what he's saying here. He most recently said last Summer that he wasn't looking to return, but about a year prior to that said he was open to the conversation if the same crew was in place, (specifically mentioning Kathleen and JJ, I get the sense he isn't the biggest fan of Rian.)

I don't know what the future holds for him or the character, but I think it's in bad taste to, as some have done here, say that it's going to come down to money. While his stance on the character and franchise hasn't been consistent, his morals always have been and he's incredibly passionate about them, I don't think he will be so easily swayed by a check waved in front of his face.

 

I might be wrong...but I did read that Daisy and John were disappointed that they didn't get to work together much during the shooting of TLJ, maybe that's the beef John had, I don't know. I did lose some respect for him post what he said about Daisy on twitter after the ST ended but I respect him as an actor.

I actually think that if they ever want a male Black Panther again, he'd be good as T' Challa's long lost son. No one can replace the wonderful Chadwick Boseman but I think John would be good in the role.

 

Actors get cast in Star Wars and they can be asked about it and relatively little else for the rest of their career. For other roles they take they might be asked about it when they've been announced as joining the cast and then when promoting the film. But for Star Wars they'll be asked basically whenever people get the opportunity. It should be little wonder that their responses evolve in relation to whatever is going on in their life and/or where their head is at the time. And at times they don't want to be asked about Star Wars so the answer is going be given which they hope will discourage further enquiries. At other times they might feel different.

It's just possible that, despite how he felt about it and his expectations at the time, John's surveyed the material from all the Disney films and shows and doesn't feel as hard done by as he had previously. Or isn't distracted by the expectations of others and with the baggage that often comes with SW.

 

I never made or posted any assumptions about any poster's race or gender here and I resent the attempt to draw me into an argument of that nature and in this way.

 

Why tag me in it then? What are you implying?

 

Ironically, in light of Boyega's praise for Abrams it was Johnson who gave Finn the more edgy material and dialogue. Like relishing in the disruption of the casino and the rich surroundings of Canto Bight. "Murdering bastard!", And making him steely and determined to make a futile gesture that would cost his life on Crait when it looked like the end for the resistance. Apart from when he wakes from the coma and is disoriented in the middle of a battle, and when he's subject to a grieving Rose's resentment when they first meet, he's far less comedic in TLJ than in TFA. But there's added, deliberate irony in that despite the hapless, out of a frying pan into a fire nature of Finn's journey, he's respected immediately by Leia and Han. In TLJ, he finds himself disrespected by Rose, who had just lost her sister in battle, when he confesses, truthfully, that he's not a hero. He was just trying to help his friend. And has to take on greater and greater risks to regain her respect. Which he ultimately exceeds at with her willing to endanger herself to prevent him completing a senseless suicide run.

It's just a pity that the Phasma confrontation was shortened as that had even better lines for Finn.

As for TROS. I don't remember Finn making much of an impression except that he was a lot moodier and shouted Rey a lot.

 

In all fairness (and to quote a fan smarter than me) the films were always about Skywalker vs Palpatine. So the focus was always going to be on Rey and Ren.
Rose was never a main character, KMT just did such an amazing job and is so likeable that the popularity of Rose ballooned. I partly agree with Finn was not well developed--- I mean how is it that a guy who spent so much time as a ST never achieved rank and spends most of the first film acting like a coward and following the white girl around like a puppy and needing her to fight his battles. But the moment that TPTB let Poe live there really wasn't that much for him to do. for all the complaints in TLJ Rian did a good job in sending him and Rose on that side quest. At least he was allowed to move and grow. Because if he had stayed on the Radus he would have been little more than Poe's (black) buddy. And I frankly saw nothing interesting about Phasma. Than your generic bully.

 

I'll just say this because it's often lost in the talk about Boyega. Fans have focused on story choices but what Boyega has discussed is far bigger than how his character developed. The "Finn" quotes are what get sensationalized, but the bigger picture is Boyega walked in a set and he's likely the only person of color there. There's not much diversity on the creative team/the production team/marketing/etc. His likeness was removed from posters in some markets. It's fine people are focused on film choices, but Boyega had to navigate far worse than some story choices.

 

Finn was much more calmer and often ended up talking Poe and Rey down from being rash. He also came up with a strategy to take down the main ship, and when his plan failed developed a back up, led the charge and was prepared to sacrifice his life. Yet I constantly hear people say he did nothing in TROS.
I don't know what Boyega and his supporters were crying about in TLJ. Finn was never a badass in TFA or some great kind of leader. People point to the fact that he faced Kylo. But that came across more as desperation than true bravery. If he had stayed on the ship in TLJ all he would have done was be Poe's assistant.

 

I can't think of anything that Poe is given to do in TFA that Finn might have done instead. Poe is out of it completely for a big chunk of the film. And Finn is the one character who is in it almost the whole way through the movie.

I'm still amazed that people charge Johnson with splitting Finn and Rey up and ignoring/denying the set up for Finn becoming a Jedi. Rey going to Luke by herself, and Finn being in a coma at the same time as the meeting of Luke and Rey (since we knew that was going to have to be scene 1) was the hand RJ had already been dealt. Where/when was Finn going to get this Jedi training in TLJ? It would have required a lot retconning of TFA. Plus it was just dramatically impractical as well as logistically almost impossible.

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I remember those things. It just never made much of an impression on me that his character was finally being handled properly. We had already seen him come up with a plan in TFA and TLJ.

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But fans still tend to appropriate John's discomfort in order to weaponise their own dissatisfaction with story choices.

 

I...think I know why. In the TFA artbook and other supplementary material, it was revealed that 'Sam', Finn's original incarnation, was a jokey, smuggler type - they decided on impulse to make him a stormtrooper but didn't change his personality to go with it.

I don't know if anyone here has seen the 'Halo' series - before continuing, please gamers no angry comments about it not being a patch on the game, I'm referring to it as a series I watched and liked, not as a gamer (which I'm not) - SPOILERS FOR ANYONE WHO HASN'T SEEN IT AND WANTS TO -

but it does an excellent job of showing brainwashed child soldiers slowly regaining their humanity.

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Thanks for saying that - I really liked his character arc in TLJ, and notice how at the end he made a speech encouraging the disillusioned rebels not to give up hope. That showed his possible future leadership qualities that could have been used to lead a stormtrooper revolt.

 

Easy. Finn's role could have been beefed up. Instead of him being an incompetent coward. He could have been a ST with a rank or a more seasoned-- think of Crosshair in The Bad Batch- gung ho patriotic. His freezing in TFA is due to being hit with the force (which was it was alluded to in TROS) Change his motivations for running away from Rey in Takodona could be due to feeling guilty about abandoning his post. But as he starts to look aroung he sees that things are not quite as rosy as he has been told and joins the Resistance and lends his military training and familiarity with the FO>

Then his story gets picked up in TLJ where he is so gung ho to take down the FO (and get revenge) that he ends up butting heads with Holdo whom he finds to be too cautious and inefectual.

What plan did he come up with in TFA? As for TLJ, sabotaging a ship and doing some kamikaze attack is just a pyric victory and has no lasting consequence as what he did in TROS.

 

That doesn’t really address what I was querying about Poe not dying having to do with what Finn got to do.

And my point regarding people charging TLJ with doing things that somehow undoes the set up was about how it picks up on the actual TFA that exists.


I think that Finn being an exceptional trooper kind of bucks the trend of characters being initially unremarkable until they choose a greater destiny. Also the impression that Troopers aren’t individually remarkable too.

 

Around the time of TFA's release, there were some promo posters featuring Kylo, Rey and Finn each with their different helmets...and notice how our first introduction to the characters is that they all wore disguising helmets which came off to reveal human beings.
Protagonist, Deuterogonist, and Antagonist. But Poe's survival actually 'demoted' Finn.

 

I think you're reading way too much into a promo poster (that I can't even remember). Finn wasn't demoted. The story was always about Rey/Kylo. Kylo the son of Han and Leia and Rey the young female force user becoming a Jedi. Outside those 3 the story also had to service Han/Luke/Leia in each film and a host of other characters.

 

Does nobody see the silliness here? The basis of this article and thread is all about John Boyega's journey in finding peace and acceptance for some serious and valid issues he had with his character's arc and development. The man has come to terms that he and he alone needed to find. Yet, "we", the outsiders, the consumers, the recipients of gifts, cannot get past debating the issue. Sure, we all have the right to our opinions, but we should, above all else, respect the man's feelings and maybe take a cue from him. We should be happy that this sort of growth and understanding has happened in our time, with all the social tension in our world, and it was fostered within our Star Wars Community.

 

I'd respect his feelings more if he hadn't made that revolting comment about Daisy Ridley on twitter.