John Boyega has reignited debate in the Star Wars fandom after launching a fresh critique of Disney’s sequel trilogy. Speaking at Florida Supercon 2025 in Miami Beach, the actor — who played former Stormtrooper Finn in The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker — made clear that he would have approached the films in a radically different way if he had been in charge.
“If I was a producer on Star Wars from the beginning, you would have had a completely different thing,” Boyega told fans. “First of all, we’re not getting rid of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, all these people. We’re going to fulfil their story and their legacy. We’re going to make a good moment of handing on the baton.”
Boyega criticised the decision to kill off iconic characters and argued that the new heroes were written as overpowered from the start. He said he would have drawn inspiration from the Force Unleashed video game, giving newcomers a more gradual journey of struggle and growth. “They won’t just grab stuff and know what to do with it. You’ve got to struggle like every other character in this franchise,” he said.
The actor was especially critical of Luke Skywalker’s portrayal in The Last Jedi, in which the Jedi Master appeared only as a Force projection during the climactic battle. “Luke Skywalker wouldn’t be disappearing on a rock. Standing there and he’s, like, a projector? Hell no! I would want to give those characters way more,” Boyega insisted.
This is not the first time Boyega has expressed frustration with the sequels. In 2020, he told British GQ that Disney gave “all the nuance” to Rey and Kylo Ren while failing to develop Finn, a Black stormtrooper, in a meaningful way. Earlier this year, he also remarked that Star Wars is still seen by some as “so white that a Black person existing in it was something.”
Boyega’s latest comments highlight ongoing divisions among fans over the Disney-era trilogy. While some appreciated the fresh direction, many — like Boyega — remain critical of how legacy characters and new heroes were handled.
