What we obtained within the subsequent two movies kind of handled Finn as an inconvenience with no actual goal after the fake-out is completed. The Final Jedi no less than pairs him with Rose Tico (Kelly Marie Tran), sending him off on an journey on the on line casino planet Canto Bight, a storyline that represents both all the pieces proper or all the pieces fallacious with that film, relying on who you ask. However The Rise of Skywalker principally reduces Finn additional, making him intermittently a comic book reduction punchline or a feckless love curiosity.
Boyega’s concept wouldn’t solely have given Finn one thing substantial to do within the subsequent two motion pictures however it additionally would’ve paid off that Drive Awakens twist in a approach that offers his character dignity. To today, it’s nonetheless inconceivable to underestimate how essential Finn appeared when he appeared within the first trailer for The Drive Awakens. Boyega’s face was the primary we because the viewers noticed. Not solely did he signify the primary unmasked Stormtrooper in any of the films (until you rely Django clones or Luke and Han in disguise), however he additionally represented a Black character on the middle of a serious sci-fi franchise. And but, he was shortly relegated to main assaults in opposition to different baby soldier Stormtroopers or a bystander subsequent to the Rey/Kylo dyad.
It’s that final level that’s notably galling in gentle of Boyega’s proposal. Permitting Finn to grow to be a Jedi in distinction to Rey would hold the Dyad in place and would additional complicate the central themes advised by The Final Jedi and discarded in Rise of Skywalker. The Final Jedi launched the concept Rey had no lineage and Kylo was overburdened by his lineage. By exhibiting a baby soldier who features an identification and turns into a Jedi, they may present a special method to the lineage theme.
As annoying as it’s that Finn was by no means absolutely utilized, Boyega continues to do attention-grabbing work, maybe much more so since being free of the confines of Star Wars. Boyega appeared in a standout episode of the anthology sequence Small Axe from filmmaker Steve McQueen, he was magnetic as a conflicted ruler in Gina Prince-Bythewood’s historic epic The Girl King, and he places in a nuanced efficiency within the 2023 sci-fi comedy They Cloned Tyrone. And all of this stems from his unbelievable debut in Assault the Block.
Simply these entries, it’s clear that Star Wars missed out by failing to take full benefit of Finn as a personality and Boyega as an actor.
