Star Wars actor, John Boyega, addresses Finn's Force sensitivity storyline in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Star Wars returned to theaters in 2015 with Star Wars: The Force Awakens following a 10-year hiatus after the prequel trilogy was completed with Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith. Boyega stars as Finn, formerly FN-2187, an ex-stormtrooper raised under the command of the First Order. After his escape from the evil military faction, he befriends Rey (Daisy Ridley) a Force sensitive scavenger, as well as a hot-shot Resistance pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), joining the fight against the First Order.
Prior to the release of The Force Awakens, many fans were led to believe that Finn was Force sensitive due to the fact that he was featured in the film's promotional materials sporting a lightsaber. However, the film did not have Finn exhibit any Force abilities. The following movie in the trilogy, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, had Boyega return to the role, but once again, Finn did not show any aptitude with the Force. However, The Rise of Skywalker demonstrated multiple times that Finn may be Force sensitive. Finn sensed Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) before he arrived at the planet of Pasaana, he could sense the origin of the navigational signal during the battle on Exegol, and Finn sensed Rey's death at the end of the film. Although the movie did not explicitly state that Finn could tap into the Force, these scenes greatly hinted at the possibility.
In a recent interview with MTV, Boyega addressed Finn's Force storyline in The Rise of Skywalker. The actor shared his thoughts as to why Finn's Force sensitivity story arc was included within The Rise of Skywalker and why it was not thoroughly explored throughout the entirety of the sequel trilogy. Read what Boyega said below.
"It was a discussion from VII that was kind of brewing, because you didn't know which way it was gonna go, right? And then VIII went in another direction. So I think with VIII going in another direction, when you're bringing someone to the third, they have to kind of like appreciate what's happened in VIII and then still try and make a narrative of it. And JJ [Abrams], I mean JJ really wanted– Force Awakens is the movie that JJ directed, he was kind of pinpoint plotting a trajectory. But obviously with the different creative differences in the middle and then getting to the third, it's kind of like he still wanted to you know just force it in there, just squeeze it in there."
"So that's where you get the moment between Finn and Jannah, and Jannah asks him, 'How do you know?' And he just says, 'It's a feeling.' He just had to get something in there that told you why there was a Stormtrooper who held his own long enough against a Sith… or Sith wannabe to a certain extent, you know, [with] Kylo. So it was interesting you know that when those talks were coming in the first stage. And I thought, obviously, you know, you get the lightsaber, you start swinging, and defending, and I'm like, 'Nah… Yeah, yeah… last time I checked, you can't even just swing that you know a certain type of way. When Han was holding it briefly, what did he do? He held it to like get the locks off or something. It was like manual labor. But you know, you're just using it to defend and you know, you defend your friend, you must have something in you. But you know, who knows if maybe down the line, they have like a younger actor or whatever, and they try to expand on Finn. Who knows if we get that. You know, we get to see like what is it about this dude that made him so special."
Boyega insinuates that The Last Jedi's deviation from several of the plot points of The Force Awakens hindered Finn's Force sensitivity storyline. The actor alleges that writer-director, J.J. Abrams, wanted to have Finn as a Jedi in the trilogy, but due to The Last Jedi's perceived shift from Abrams' desired plot, the director felt the need to "squeeze" it into the final film. It can be argued that Finn was attuned to the Force from his very first appearance in the saga with his unwillingness to kill innocent civilians as a stormtrooper and Kylo Ren seemingly sensing him during the massacre. The movie also had Maz Kanata (Lupita N'yongo), a mysterious diminutive Force user, hand Finn the lightsaber as a weapon he could use to fight the First Order, choosing him to wield the legendary Jedi blade.
Abrams never intended to complete the trilogy. He was hired only to write and direct The Force Awakens with Johnson and Jurassic World Dominion director, Colin Trevorrow, handling The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker respectively. Due to creative differences, Trevorrow was fired and Abrams, along with writer Chris Terrio, had to hastily finish the story. What audiences ended up with was a highly-divisive film that left many viewers wanting, especially regarding Finn's seemingly tacked-on Force sensitivity plot line. With Boyega recently announcing that Rise of Skywalker is likely his last Star Wars film, the remainder of his journey in the way of the Force may never be seen on the big screen.
Source: MTV (via Comic Book)
