Star Wars has gotten kind of a bad reputation in the past for ruining careers and cutting short what might have been promising lives due to the nature of being stereotyped and other factors that arose during the filming process. Matthew Stevens from CBR managed to compile a list of stars that actually regretted their time in the franchise no matter that they were treated pretty well by it throughout the years. The point is that John Boyega stating that he’s going to move on from the character of Finn seems to be something that will greatly upset the fans, but at the same time is a wise decision on his part. If you’ll recall only a couple of individuals that were a part of Star Wars lore ever really pulled away from the supposed curse that haunted so many and made it big elsewhere. Usually only those that have had a firmly established career in the past decade or more have been able to withstand the hit their reputation took from starring in the franchise, but those few that pulled away after just starting out in Star Wars to begin with were considered extremely lucky.
As Chris Agar of ScreenRant has gone on to reveal Boyega has definitely had a good time as a part of the Star Wars cast and has enjoyed his fellow cast members and the experience. After all he came from being a lone storm trooper whose only thought was of defecting from the First Order to being a part of the Resistance despite his initial desire to just flee. Since The Force Awakens he’s taken on a completely different tune and become a figure that many fans can’t do without since he’s become integral to the story and is now someone that has a great deal invested in the outcome of the war between the First Order and the Resistance. The fact that he’s ready to move on isn’t all that surprising or that damaging to the franchise since it’s already been revealed by Paul Bradshaw from Den of Geek! and many others that while some rumors that Disney will put Star Wars on hold following The Rise of Skywalker, others believe that there are more projects still to come.
The character of Finn is no doubt still going to be prominent in many of the stories moving forward, but in the movies it does seem as though Finn, Rey, and Poe might be mentioned here and there but never really shown since this coming movie is already being said to end the Skywalker saga finally. That’s a sad bit of commentary but one has to remember that there is a whole universe out there in the Star Wars franchise and there are so many more stories that can power it and push it into the next several decades. While the Jedi and the Sith have been the dominant forces in the universe there are still many others that pull on the Force and could possibly be explored. As for John Boyega, his career is already solidifying thanks to Star Wars and the films he’s done outside of the franchise. It feels safe to say that he’s going to be just fine stepping away from Star Wars since he’s already proven that he can act and that he can make his way into other movies without much difficulty. If there’s anyone to worry over it would be Daisy Ridley and Oscar Isaacs, but wait, nope, they’ve established that they too can find work outside of Star Wars, so perhaps the curse isn’t quite as expansive as people have been led to believe.
Plus if you really think about it the curse as it was ascribed back then did seem to pick on characters that were both strong and weak alike in the franchise, but in terms of who it truly hammered into obscurity it seems that the older actors that had already passed their prime or hadn’t done anything significant for a while were hit the hardest. Plus, there was likely a bit of arrogance that kept some of them from moving on, though it is regrettable that a few those that were affected didn’t find a way to better their situation. In all honesty it doesn’t seem like this is bound to happen to Boyega since he’s been quick to establish himself away from Star Wars while still sticking with the franchise. It’s likely that he’s going to be seen as Finn for a while to come but it’s also just as likely that he’ll continue to get work since he’s still young enough and skilled enough to avoid being typecast as Mark Hamill or Carrie Fisher were back in the day.
He’s going to be fine after Star Wars, that much seems obvious.
