John Boyega 'Assumed' He Knew Where Rey And Finn's Story Was Going After The Force Awakens. Turns Out, He Had No Idea

John Boyega as Finn in Star Wars: The Force Awakens
(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Star Wars is one of the biggest franchises of all time, as generations have been brought up on the galaxy far, far away. After years the Star Wars movies returned to theaters with The Force Awakens (which is streaming with a Disney+ subscription). The first entry in the sequel trilogy introduced John Boyega's Finn to the world, and the actor thought he knew where his character and Rey were headed. It turns out he was mistaken.

While fans not-so-patiently wait for upcoming Star Wars movies and TV shows, more information about the last three movies is still trickling out. John Boyega has been open about his disappointments related Finn, specifically related to his use of The Force. During a panel appearance at Fan Expo Boston (via ScreenRant), the 33 year-old actor shared where he thought the story was originally going. In his words:

I think I assumed he was Force-sensitive from The Force Awakens script or at least by the time I got to the end of The Force Awakens script. I thought they were planning dual Jedis. I actually thought that they would Obi-Wan and Darth Vader us a bit. That we would turn against each other or something along those lines.

Well, my FOMO is through the roof. This is a huge departure from the story we saw in the sequel trilogy, but it seems like a pretty thrilling (albeit hypothetical) idea. While Adam Driver's Kylo Ren was set up to be the main antagonist of those movies, seeing Finn and Rey come to blows with a lightsaber duel would have been pretty awesome. Instead, Boyega never picked up a lightsaber after his two battles in The Force Awakens.

Disney+: from $9.99 a month w/ ad-supported plan

Disney+: from $9.99 a month w/ ad-supported plan
Disney+ is the home for the Star Wars Plans start at $9.99 a month for its new ad-supported plan. Go ad-free and pay $15.99 a month or save 16% and pre-pay $159.99 for a year.

Throughout the trilogy it was hinted a number of times that Finn could use The Force. He took to a lightsaber quickly, and could sense where Rey was. But he never actually got trained, with Daisy Ridley's Rey being the main hero and next Jedi of the franchise. And she and Finn never turned against each other the way that Boyega assumed they would.

John Boyega and Daisy Ridley with Chewbacca in the background in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

(Image credit: Lucasfilm)

Personally I'm hoping that Ridley's Rey movie brings back Finn as well, and we get to finally see him starting his Jedi training. The movie is expected to follow her as she started a new Jedi Order, years after The Rise of Skywalker's ending. This seems like a great way to finally give that storyline a big payoff, as well as include another key connection to the previous movies.

Right now not much is know about what that developing project will contain, but Star Wars: New Jedi Order is currently expected to arrive sometime in the 2026 movie release list. But filming will have to start soon if that's going to happen.

Corey Chichizola
Movies Editor

Corey was born and raised in New Jersey. Graduated with degrees theater and literature from Ramapo College of New Jersey. After working in administrative theater for a year in New York, he started as the Weekend Editor at CinemaBlend. He's since been able to work himself up to reviews, phoners, and press junkets-- and is now able to appear on camera with some of his favorite actors... just not as he would have predicted as a kid. He's particularly proud of covering horror franchises like Scream and Halloween, as well as movie musicals like West Side Story. Favorite interviews include Steven Spielberg, Spike Lee, Jamie Lee Curtis, and more. 

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.