By George & Josh Bate
Even the most passionate fans of the Star Wars sequel trilogy (which we include ourselves along) can agree that Episodes VII-IX had unfulfilled potential in a number of areas, namely Finn. The Stormtrooper-turned-Rebel played by John Boyega wielded the legendary Skywalker saber in The Force Awakens and was announced to be Force sensitive in The Rise of Skywalker but never became a full-fledged Jedi, as many (including Boyega) hoped for. In a new interview, Boyega reveals how he thought Finn’s journey would have gone after The Force Awakens.
Speaking at Fan Expo Boston (via Screenrant), Boyega discussed how he thought Finn would have become a Jedi after The Force Awakens and that Finn and Rey would eventually become enemies. Here’s what he said:
“I think I assumed he was Force-sensitive from The Force Awakens script or at least by the time I got to the end of The Force Awakens script. I thought they were planning dual Jedis. I actually thought that they would Obi-Wan and Darth Vader us a bit. That we would turn against each other or something along those lines.”
Although Boyega has previously voiced how he thought Finn would have become a Jedi in the sequels, he has never revealed he thought the trilogy would eventually take a dark turn that would see Daisy Ridley’s Rey become an enemy of his character. This would have been a decidedly different direction for the sequel trilogy to take, one that would fulfill Rey’s darkest fears in The Rise of Skywalker.
As of now, there are no official plans for Boyega to reprise his role as Finn, although we’re keeping our hopes up. Boyega and Ridley were the shared heart of The Force Awakens and there seems to be so much of their story (and possibly romance) to explore in the New Jedi Order movie or even Simon Kinberg’s planned movie series.