In 2015’s “Star Wars: The Force Awakens,” John Boyega made his acting debut as Finn, which was a significant development for the series. After nearly 40 years, a Black guy was finally going to play the major role instead of a supporting one in a galaxy far, far away. Sadly, the actor’s and his character’s promising beginning gradually burned out. Boyega faced a barrage of racist internet taunts as Finn was marginalised throughout the course of the following two Skywalker Saga films, with little to no public backing from Disney and Lucasfilm’s top executives.
The Skywalker Saga came to an end with the release of “The Rise of Skywalker” in December 2019, and Boyega was already displaying symptoms that he was finished and prepared to leave the project. Over the coming year, he would only continue to voice his complaints, openly criticising Disney for not just ignoring him but also other “Star Wars” actors of colour, such as Kelly Marie Tran, and failing to defend them against abusive fans. He then had what Boyega characterised as a “really honest, very straightforward talk” with a senior Mouse House official as a result of that.
Boyega has patched up his relationship with his old employers, but he’s still (unsurprisingly) reluctant to go back to a galaxy far, far away. In response to the issue, the actor said, according to Variety, in a SiriusXM interview: “At this point, I’m cool off it. I’m good off it. I think Finn is at a good confirmation point where you can just enjoy him in other things, the games, the animation. But I feel like ‘[Episode] VII’ to ‘[Episode] IX’ was good for me.”
Boyega is ready to move past his “Star Wars” days, which is understandable given the excellent collaborators he has worked with. When “Breaking” premieres in theatres on August 26, 2022, you can see him in it. “They Cloned Tyrone” is scheduled to start streaming on Netflix sometime between now and the end of 2022, and “The Woman King” will follow shortly after on September 16, 2022.
