Credit: LucasfilmFour years later, the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy remains one of the most highly-divisive series in cinematic history. Fans tend to pin the blame on Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017) or J.J. Abrams’ controversial Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker (2019), with Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens (2015) getting out relatively unscathed. Now, one of the trilogy’s leading stars is revealing his surprising ranking of the Sequel Trilogy, proving once and for all that one movie reigns supreme.
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The Star Wars Sequel Trilogy introduced fans to a fresh cast of characters led by a new central trio comprised of John Boyega, who played ex-Stormtrooper Finn, Oscar Isaac, who played cunning Rebel star pilot Poe Dameron, and Daisy Ridley, a Force-sensitive scavenger living on the desert planet of Jakku. Together, they went on to fight against the tyrannous First Order with the help of their Resistance allies, unraveling some strange mysteries and discovering the power of hope along the way.
Disney’s first foray into the galaxy far, far away was off to a good start with The Force Awakens, and unfortunately only seemed to get worse with each installment. Despite the return of Mark Hamill’s Luke Skywalker, Harrison Ford’s Han Solo, and a hybrid-CGI Leia Organa, played by Carrie Fisher, as well as all-star talent from Adam Driver and Lupita Nyong’o, the franchise ended on a sour note, dividing the Star Wars fan base for years to come.
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But even though the Disney-owned Sequel Trilogy remains one of the more controversial pop culture debates of recent years, one of its stars, John Boyega, recently weighed in, sharing his thoughts on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the series while sharing his personal ranking of each film.
During the latest episode of Truth or Dare: Rapid Fire, a series produced by First We Feast, Boyega got candid about his thoughts on the Sequel Trilogy while promoting his new Netflix movie, They Cloned Tyrone (2023). During the interview, Boyega was asked to rank each Sequel Trilogy installment based on his preference and taste for the story.
Unsurprisingly, Boyega crowned The Force Awakens his favorite, followed by The Rise of Skywalker. Although he claimed not to have any ill will against The Last Jedi, he declared the movie his least favorite, rounding out his ranking while making a face that not-so-subtly hinted he’s not actually as big of a fan of the trilogy as he lets on—at least, certain installments. Check out the full clip below:
@firstwefeast john boyega has 2 options: tell the truth or suffer the wrath of the last dab 😩🔥 truthordabrapidfire johnboyega **this episode was filmed before the SAG-AFTRA strike.
The Finn actor has long been questioned about his return to the Star Wars universe since the Sequel Trilogy reached its conclusion in 2019. But following the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Boyega expressed his disappointment with how filmmakers treated his character, publicly calling out Disney for downplaying actors of color in the franchise.
Considering the Sequel Trilogy underwent a series of rewrites and scrapped storylines, with there never being one specified end goal in mind from the start, it’s safe to say that the series will go down in history as one of the messiest productions of all time—no matter how much you like the movies or not.
As for Finn specifically, he was supposed to have a much more significant role in the original script treatment but was sidelined in favor of focusing more on Rey. Boyega’s face was also noticeably edited to be smaller in the Chinese poster for The Force Awakens, which was slammed by critics for being incredibly racist, causing supporters to rally behind the fan-favorite actor. But despite flip-flopping on his views of Disney and Star Wars, he’s admitted that he’s happy to be a fan of the franchise, even that doesn’t necessarily mean a return to his role.
However, it seems like the dust has settled on Boyega’s less-than-favorable remarks about the galaxy far, far away amid rumors that he might be returning to the franchise for Daisy Ridley’s upcoming Rey solo movie, which was announced at this year’s Star Wars Celebration Europe. The film is slated to arrive sometime in the next few years and will be directed by Oscar-winning documentarian Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy.
With Ridley now officially reprising her role, it’s only natural that whispers of Finn and maybe even Poe’s respective returns made the rounds online, with rumors that Boyega had officially signed onto the project running rampant after the project was announced in April. And based on Boyega’s recent comments in the same interview with First We Feast, in which he stated he would be “open” to reprising his role as Finn, those rumors might have some validity.
For now, Boyega’s return to Star Wars has yet to be confirmed, but fans would surely celebrate a story that actually honors Finn and his arc. After all, his Sequel Trilogy redemption is long overdue, and this might just be the project to set things right once and for all.
Do you agree with John Boyega’s ranking of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy? Share your thoughts in the comments below.