Recently, John Boyega, who played Finn in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, has been commenting on his time with the franchise once again. Most recently, in an interview with Sirius XM, Boyega revealed that he wouldn’t want to return to the role of Finn—at least, as of right now.
Now, he’s mentioned that he doesn’t think he’d even read the alternate version of Episode IX, whose script is available for those who look in the right places. The project, originally helmed by Colin Trevorrow of Jurassic World fame and Duel of the Fates, would have seen a different chain of events go down.
For one, Kylo Ren would have never been redeemed—having blinded Rey and tortured Chewy at points throughout the story. Finn would have gotten a bigger and more important role, the plot would have featured a return to Courscant, and there was even a Poe/Rey romance.
On paper, all of that sounds pretty intriguing. So why does Boyega feel like he’d never want to read it?
John Boyega Doesn’t Want to Read Alternate Episode IX
During an appearance on the Happy Sad Confused Podcast, Star Wars actor John Boyega revealed that he wouldn’t want to read the alternate version of Episode IX from Colin Trevorrow.
When Horowitz pointed out that the script is online for those who look, Boyega didn’t seem to be aware. But when told by the interviewer, Boyega noted how “[he] can’t read that one, because [he’d] be heartbroken:”
“I can’t read that one because I’ll be heartbroken, because I was… I had a sit down with Colin. I want to tell you… that’s one of the best Star Wars… meetings I’d ever had because it felt like two nerds that were like, ‘Yes, that’s what we want to see!’ …And I saw the art, you know, Stormtrooper rebellion, I was like, that stuff was cold.
The actor continued, vouching for the would-be director, pointing out how “hopefully Lucasfilm can give him… [another] opportunity down the line:”
“… hopefully, Lucasfilm can give him an opportunity down the line to maybe work on something else, you know? Because ’I'm sure they would love to collaborate with him again in any capacity.”
While talking with Yahoo! Entertainment back in 2020, Boyega commented on some concept art that had just hit the web from Trevorrow’s abandoned Star Wars adventure, sharing how it “would have been dope” to have been able to create that director’s vision:
“I think Colin Trevorrow was going to tell that story. That image of Finn with the blue flag, and you have the AT-ATs lined up with tribal marks, and the stormtroopers take off their helmets. That would have been sick! That would have been dope, man, hands down.”
Does Finn Have Any Future in Star Wars?
Many might agree that it’d be interesting to see how that alternate version of the movie would have turned out. After all, given the extremely negative reaction The Rise of Skywalker got, almost anything else would likely have been received better.
Though, in this case, It’s understandable that John Boyega wouldn’t want to read it himself. Reading between the lines, it seems the actor liked what Trevorrow had in mind a lot more than what J.J. Abrams cooked up—which wouldn’t be too surprising, given how little Finn was able to do in that last film.
As for if there’s any chance the actor may return in the future, while he says he has no desire, given recent trends across pop culture with older actors returning to their iconic roles, anything is possible. There will eventually come a time when the franchise will want to explore events after the sequel trilogy, which will mandate some returning faces.
One would think that the actor behind Finn would at least be a little curious to return to his role at that point. After all, if he was truly disappointed with how his character went down in Episode IX, that would be a perfect opportunity to actually do something notable with the character.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is now available to stream on Disney+.
