There are a few absolute certainties in this world: death, taxes, and Star Wars fans thinking up new discussion points to slam the recent sequel trilogy.
Despite grossing $3 billion over three films and generally being positively received by critics, the sequel trilogy didn’t land well with the absolute franchise diehards. In the firing line today to take the brunt of criticism and discussion is John Boyega’s character Finn.
The first of the protagonists to be introduced to audiences in The Force Awakens, he was plastered all over advertising material and toys with a lightsaber and going toe-to-toe with big bad Kylo Ren. By the time The Rise of Skywalker, fans were disappointed he didn’t continue with his implied Jedi ways.
The thread went down as expected, with the most common theme being a belief the sequel trilogy just wasn’t planned effectively enough, especially with its character development. Commenters point to just Rey Skywalker and Kylo Ren having convincing arcs which felt planned.
There’s some truth to changes happening as these films were happening, but were very much (just like all movie franchises) a result of audience feedback. Marvel is notorious for chopping and changing to suit fan feedback, and Star Wars isn’t much different. Why else did Jar Jar have less and less to do in the prequels after The Phantom Menace?
One of the big changes behind the scenes was for Oscar Isaac’s Poe Dameron. Originally intended to die during The Force Awakens, he ended up surviving after Isaac talked J.J. Abrams out of killing him off. From there, he gained popularity with his screen-time and became more important in follow-ups.
While Finn doesn’t end up exactly being a Jedi, it is heavily implied in The Rise of Skywalker he has force intuition during the final confrontation above Exegol. Sometimes people just don’t recognize subtly.
It’s unlikely we’ll see Finn back anytime soon, at least with Boyega returning. The actor spoke about how he’s finished with the role and doesn’t feel any desire to return. At least yet. Nobody thought Harrison Ford would be convinced for Episode 7, but he still showed up.
The entire Star Wars saga is available to stream on Disney Plus.