John Boyega didn’t hold back when reflecting on Finn’s treatment during Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy. In September 2020, he gave an interview to GQ in which he made his thoughts on Finn’s story very clear:
“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.”
That being said, the ice may have thawed a little since then. Daisy Ridley will be returning as Rey in a new Star Wars movie set after The Rise of Skywalker, and if she’s back it makes sense for Boyega’s Finn to also be along for the ride. Rumors are flying that this is already a done deal, though the actor has taken to Twitter to urge caution:
An obvious dangling plot thread would be to explore the hints in The Rise of Skywalker that Finn is Force Sensitive. The non-canon The LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special went as far as having a scene in which Rey attempts to instruct Finn in the ways of the Force, and we think it’d be a smart way to move these characters’ arcs forward, deepen their relationship, and show what lessons Rey learned from Luke’s style of teaching.
Then again, as per Boyega, let’s not speculate too much until we hear confirmation from him. There’s historic bad blood between Boyega and Disney, but it sounds like he’s not ruling out a return to a galaxy far, far away.