John Boyega accuses Disney of pushing his Star Wars character aside

[Dead2009]

John Boyega accuses Disney of pushing his Star Wars character aside | ITV News

John Boyega has accused Disney of marketing his character in Star Wars as an important figure before pushing him aside. | ITV News London

www.itv.com

John Boyega has accused Disney of marketing his character in Star Wars as an important figure before pushing him aside.

The Peckham-born actor, 28, played Finn, the franchise’s first black Stormtrooper, in the recent trilogy alongside Daisy Ridley’s Rey and Adam Driver’s villainous Kylo Ren.

However, Finn’s screen time diminished in sequel The Last Jedi and denouement The Rise of Skywalker.

Boyega told British GQ: “You get yourself involved in projects and you’re not necessarily going to like everything.

“(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 claimed Disney, which distributes Star Wars, had given more “nuance” to his co-stars and suggested the company did not know how to treat him as a black actor.

“Like, you guys knew what to do with Daisy Ridley, you knew what to do with Adam Driver,” he said.

“You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran (who played Rose Tico and has Vietnamese heritage), when it came to John Boyega, you know f*** 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.

“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.”

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I accuse Disney of pushing Star Wars aside...so I tend to agree with him.

 

[champdisney]

I hear him. Disney used him and the color of his skin to market the Sequel Trilogy. It would have been awesome to see his character develop in ways that was reminiscent to Luke... a nobody discovering he was Force sensitive, training to become a highly skilled Jedi and using his newfound abilities to aid in the fight to defeat the evil that plagued the galaxy.

Yet... Disney chose to “clickbait” him (as YouTuber Star Wars Theory put it) and treated him as somewhat of an overly worried cheerleader to Rey. It’s a shame and Disney continues to pander to the Black Community, acting as if they truly care for them as individuals... but you know it’s the dollars signs that they’re after.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I hear him. Disney used him and the color of his skin to market the Sequel Trilogy. It would have been awesome to see his character develop in ways that was reminiscent to Luke... a nobody discovering he was Force sensitive, training to become a highly skilled Jedi and using his newfound abilities to aid in the fight to defeat the evil that plagued the galaxy.

Yet... Disney chose to “clickbait” him (as YouTuber Star Wars Theory put it) and treated him as somewhat of an overly worried cheerleader to Rey. It’s a shame and Disney continues to pander to the Black Community, acting as if they truly care for them as individuals... but you know it’s the dollars signs that they’re after.

Didn’t they do that with EVERY character? Save maybe one?

 

[Parker in NYC]

I don't think many fanbois will be hurt by his criticism of the way the trilogy was handled. If they do, it undermines their supposed hatred for it anyway!

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't think many fanbois will be hurt by his criticism of the way the trilogy was handled. If they do, it undermines their supposed hatred for it anyway!

The criticism of those movies is just starting...we have a template and these will be amplified (my inexperienced opinion)

 

[Parker in NYC]

The criticism of those movies is just starting...we have a template and these will be amplified (my inexperienced opinion)

Justice for Admiral Ackbar. Otherwise, meh. Sidenote, thank God for Lieutenant Bek.

EDIT: Wait, that came off wrong. Meh about the series and I miss Admiral Ackbar and I was happy to meet Lieutenant Bek in December. Lovely guy.

 

[GimpYancIent]

Justice for Admiral Ackbar. Otherwise, meh. Sidenote, thank God for Lieutenant Bek.

EDIT: Wait, that came off wrong. Meh about the series and I miss Admiral Ackbar and I was happy to meet Lieutenant Bek in December. Lovely guy.

I don't really get this story about John Boyega making a comment. It was reported back in July that he had moved on from Star Wars he was involved in other projects.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Justice for Admiral Ackbar. Otherwise, meh. Sidenote, thank God for Lieutenant Bek.

Wouldn’t need Bek if Kathy didn’t give her meatball manboy full reign...
....I think they’re supposed to introduce another in the Mandolorian?

Wouldn’t need that if you didn’t toss perhaps one of the most beloved bit characters in history to facilitate a forgettable plot ploy for another character no one remembers...

Ok...I’m down the well...I’ll climb back out now. Everyone enjoy.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

I don't really get this story about John Boyega making a comment. It was reported back in July that he had moved on from Star Wars he was involved in other projects.

Seems to be more “pointed” now. I doubt he’ll be the last. And he’s not really the first either.

 

[Parker in NYC]

I don't really get this story about John Boyega making a comment. It was reported back in July that he had moved on from Star Wars he was involved in other projects.

To irk you.

 

[Phroobar]

His character Finn is the Jar Jar of the series. Finn is completely worthless to the series along with Rose and Captain Phasma. Their story arc goes nowhere and none of these characters grow.

 

[InnKpr]

On paper, his story arch was a compelling one. Going from Stormtrooper to wanting to run from the fight to hero wanting to fight for a cause... it was a good character arch. Problem was, they rushed the development of all stages and had him go from enemy to hero before his first movie reached its halfway point.

Slow down! Let this character take some time to go through all the phases. It would've made the payoff when he becomes a hero much more satisfying.

They should have made him a bad guy for a good portion of TFA, fighting as a First Order trooper, have him believe he was doing right.
Then, towards the end of that movie, he progresses into knowing he's on the wrong side, and he's wanting to flee for selfish reasons and saving his own skin.
He remains "good" Finn throughout TLJ, fighting for the Resistance, but again, he's still heavily motivated by selfish ambitions and his safety.
Finally, in ROS, he makes the full transformation into heroic Finn, not fighting because he's afraid/wanting to run, but because he knows it's the right thing and knows the consequences if the First Order succeeds.

That would've been a much better development and could have avoided pushing him into an afterthought of the main plot (imo).

But as it stands (and this was a problem with Rey too) the main protagonists in this trilogy seemed so perfected so early, that is was hard to root for them in the long haul.

 

[lazyboy97o]

Clearly he just doesn’t understand the artistic genius of subverting expectations.

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Clearly he just doesn’t understand the artistic genius of subverting expectations.

Internet winner!!!

 

[GimpYancIent]

On paper, his story arch was a compelling one. Going from Stormtrooper to wanting to run from the fight to hero wanting to fight for a cause... it was a good character arch. Problem was, they rushed the development of all stages and had him go from enemy to hero before his first movie reached its halfway point.

Slow down! Let this character take some time to go through all the phases. It would've made the payoff when he becomes a hero much more satisfying.

They should have made him a bad guy for a good portion of TFA, fighting as a First Order trooper, have him believe he was doing right.
Then, towards the end of that movie, he progresses into knowing he's on the wrong side, and he's wanting to flee for selfish reasons and saving his own skin.
He remains "good" Finn throughout TLJ, fighting for the Resistance, but again, he's still heavily motivated by selfish ambitions and his safety.
Finally, in ROS, he makes the full transformation into heroic Finn, not fighting because he's afraid/wanting to run, but because he knows it's the right thing and knows the consequences if the First Order succeeds.

That would've been a much better development and could have avoided pushing him into an afterthought of the main plot (imo).

But as it stands (and this was a problem with Rey too) the main protagonists in this trilogy seemed so perfected so early, that is was hard to root for them in the long haul.

Ok. In short the character Finn had his day. We move on.

 

[InnKpr]

Ok. In short the character Finn had his day. We move on.

You can move on to wherever you like. But this is a discussion forum, and we're discussing this. Cheers.

 

[BubbaisSleep]

They definitely used him for click bait as a black stormtrooper.
As for what to do with his character, that just seemed the case for everyone.
They didn't know what to do with most of their characters, Plasma is a big example.

 

[erasure fan1]

Well I would argue, if the story isn't developed or nuanced, did you expect the characters to be? If anything, he should blame Rian for regressing the character and Kennedy for approving it. Yea Disney is ultimately responsible, but lets call out the people who actually made the character decisions. We saw a lot of this after the prequels as well. The actors bad mouthing star wars, how they wouldn't want to do it anymore...

 

[Sirwalterraleigh]

Well I would argue, if the story isn't developed or nuanced, did you expect the characters to be? If anything, he should blame Rian for regressing the character and Kennedy for approving it. Yea Disney is ultimately responsible, but lets call out the people who actually made the character decisions. We saw a lot of this after the prequels as well. The actors bad mouthing star wars, how they wouldn't want to do it anymore...

My therapist says I shouldn’t get involved in this line of thinking...