Actor John Boyega, who played Resistance fighter Finn in the most recent Star Wars trilogy, has expressed zero interest in returning to the beloved franchise.
In a recent interview on SiriusXM, Boyega said: “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.”
He followed up by stating his major focus now with his career is “versatility.” John Boyega’s Finn was one of the few major Black characters in the Star Wars franchise, following in the path of Billy Dee Williams’ Lando Calrissian and Samuel L. Jackson’s Mace motherf*ckin’ Windu. Even though Darth Vader was voiced by James Earl Jones, he was unmasked as a “crusty old white man”, forever pissing off the great Hooper X.
This appears to be a trend of sorts for people of color in the Star Wars universe. Moses Ingram, who plays Reva Sevander on Disney+’s Obi-Wan Kenobi, has claimed she’s received hundreds of hate-ridden threats. Billy Dee Williams, meanwhile, may have been content drinking that sweet, sweet Colt 45…
Interestingly, just last year, Boyega was open to continuing with the franchise, calling it a “no-brainer.”
John Boyega’s focus on carer “versatility” seems to already be in play. All three films he appears in this year–Breaking, The Woman King and They Cloned Tyrone–are directed by either women or people of color. Recently, Boyega portrayed Black Police Association co-founder Leroy Logan in Steve McQueen’s anthology film series Small Axe.
How do you feel about John Boyega (and Finn) never returning to the Star Wars franchise? Do you think the Star Wars franchise itself needs more versatility? Let us know below!
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