We’re coming up on the seven-year anniversary of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, and it remains one of the most polarizing entries in the franchise set in a galaxy far, far away. Many fans continue to share the main reasons they have issues with The Last Jedi, and even John Boyega said a few years back that he was “iffy” with some of the choices made in Episode VIII. This has been part of larger conversations the Finn actor’s had where he’s shared criticism about his time working on Star Wars, but as we approach the midpoint of 2023, Boyega has made peace over the Sequel Trilogy’s middle entry, and also discussed becoming a fan of the franchise again.
Besides not agreeing with every story decision made throughout the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy (he specifically thought of what Rian Johnson could have “done better” in The Last Jedi), John Boyega has also dealt with racist backlash, which aided in changing his view on the franchise. However, while speaking with The Times (via Indiewire), the actor said that he’s made his peace with both the good and bad of his personal experience with Star Wars, summarizing his thoughts on the matter now thusly:
For me Star Wars has made the man, in a sense… The experiences, the fun times, good times, ugly times, bad times, it makes you who you are as you navigate through the industry, and that has definitely been interesting. I feel like the arc that JJ tried to tie up, that's where I feel comfortable with the release of him. And since then I've been able to enjoy, as a fan, The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi. I'm enjoying the balance of all things.
Although there was a time when Boyega felt he should be able to complain about Star Wars since Robert Pattinson could do the same for Twilight, he’s take a more introspective approach with looking back on his years playing Finn. For one thing, although not mentioning the movie outright, this is just the latest time he’s propped up The Rise of Skywalker, with past instances including him defending J.J. Abrams and making a video that steamrolled critics of Episode IX. Even though he wasn’t entirely satisfied with what The Last Jedi did with Finn, he’s ultimately comfortable with where the character was left off. Plus, he acknowledged that watching producers argue about lightsaber colors helped inspire his career.
But perhaps more importantly, John Boyega is comfortable with viewing other entries in the Star Wars franchise, naming two of the recent small screen installments available exclusively to Disney+ subscribers. It probably helps that The Mandalorian and Obi-Wan Kenobi are set in time periods far before Finn enters the galactic picture, allowing the actor a certain level of disconnect. While the latter series was a one-and-done offering, the former wrapped its third season just a few weeks ago, and Ahsoka will debut next sometime in August.
All this being said, it’s possible that Boyega’s time with the Star Wars franchise isn’t done. It was announced at Star Wars Celebration last month that Daisy Ridley is returning to lead a movie that follows Rey rebuilding the Jedi Order 15 years after the events of The Rise of Skywalker. Not too long after, it was rumored that Boyega will return for this movie, and considering that J.J. Abrams confirmed that Finn is Force-sensitive, it would make sense for him to be involved in that particular story. For now though, Boyega remains a Star Wars fan like the rest of us, but should it be announced he’ll be back for the Rey movie, or maybe a different Star Wars project, we’ll let you know.
For now, you can watch John Boyega’s more recent movie, The Woman King, with a Netflix subscription, and his next movie, They Cloned Tyrone, will hit the same streaming platform on July 21. Head to Disney+ if you’d like to watch the Star Wars movies in order, or take a look at what other upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows are on the docket.
