Star Wars stunned fans in the final film of the sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker, when Rey (played by Daisy Ridley) was placed at the forefront of the franchise by Disney as the latest of the Skywalkers.
However they were more surprised in the first film of the trilogy, The Force Awakens, when Finn (John Boyega) was sidelined for Rey.
Marketing and advertising focussed a lot on Finn taking the forefront of the film’s narrative on his shoulders.
However shortly into the film it was shown that Rey was the real protagonist of the story.
Now, almost a year after the final film in the trilogy was released, Boyega has spoken out about how he feels about how he was treated by Disney.
Fans may remember Finn held the iconic Skywalker lightsaber for most of the first film, before it inexplicably – literally – flew into the hands of Rey.
On being set up as the main character before the sharp nudge sidewards, Boyega confessed: “You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything.”
Going on to speak directly to Disney, Boyega told GQ Magazine: “[But] what I would say to Disney is: Do not bring out a black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It’s not good. I’ll say it straight up.”
Boyega then compared the treatment of his acting to that of his on-screen partners, Rey’s Daisy Ridley, and Kylo Ren’s Adam Driver.
“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley,” he continued. “You knew what to do with Adam Driver.
“You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f**k all. So what do you want me to say?
“What they want you to say is: ‘I enjoyed being a part of it. It was a great experience…’ Nah, nah, nah. I’ll take that deal when it’s a great experience.”
He added: “They gave all the nuance to Adam Driver, all the nuance to Daisy Ridley. Let’s be honest.
“Daisy knows this. Adam knows this. Everybody knows. I’m not exposing anything.”
In a final comment on the matter, Boyega succinctly explained: “I’m the only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race. Let’s just leave it like that.
“It makes you angry with a process like that. It makes you much more militant; it changes you. Because you realise: ‘I got given this opportunity but I’m in an industry that wasn’t even ready for me.’
“Nobody else in the cast had people saying they were going to boycott the movie because [they were in it]. Nobody else had the uproar and death threats sent to their Instagram DMs and social media, saying, ‘Black this and black that and you shouldn’t be a Stormtrooper.’
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“Nobody else had that experience. But yet people are surprised that I’m this way. That’s my frustration.”
Thankfully, a number of rumours have been arriving online which suggest Disney’s sequel trilogy could be rebooted entirely.
Active Star Wars leaker Doomcock last month told of these rumours, with a number of scenarios supposedly on the table.
“The first scenario is a kind of soft reboot of the sequel trilogy,” Doomcock said. “And is by far the worst option on the table.
Star Wars: John Boyega spoke out about his role in the Disney franchise [GQ • DANNY KASIRYE]
“In this scenario they use the ‘Veil of the Force’ to go back in time and warn Luke not to try and kill Ben Solo.”
He then added: “I’m told they are contemplating a new Luke Skywalker movie set 10 years after The Return of the Jedi. Set in The Mandalorian timeline.”
However none of this is confirmed, of course, but it could spell a good comeback for Boyega if he were interested in taking the plunge back into working with Disney.
Read the full feature in the October issue of British GQ available via digital download and on newsstands Friday 4th September.
The Star Wars Saga is available to watch on Disney Plus.
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