John Boyega reveals what changes he would’ve made to the Star Wars sequel trilogy

John Boyega is offering his thoughts on what would have been different in the Star Wars sequel trilogy if he had been a producer from the start.

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The sequel Trilogy completely changed cinematic history, being the first time Star Wars went beyond the Skywalker Saga in the Cinematic Universe. It pumped new energy and life into a hallowed franchise in a way that both resurrects old pleasures and points in promising new directions. Although Lucasfilm continues to focus on creating several new films and live-action television series for Disney+ , it has yet been able to recapture the magic of the original saga films.

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While J.J. Abrams and Rian Johnson were in charge of the directing duties for the sequel trilogy, Boyega, who played Finn in the 
trilogy, explains that he would have changed some things if he was in charge of the films.

“If I was a producer on Star Wars from the beginning,” John Boyega said at Florida Supercon 2025, “You would have had a whole completely different thing.”

Boyega hasn’t stayed silent about his disappointment with the franchise itself. Specifically, Boyega has expressed frustrations with the sidelining of Finn, especially in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, which was only worsened by Star Wars heavily teasing Finn as a Jedi only to fail to follow through on that in the end. Boyega also voiced his displeasure with comments over the years about racism in Star Wars.

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Asked by an audience member at the spotlight panel what he would do if he were to remake the Star Wars sequels he appeared in, Boyega was incredibly honest and candid.

“It would be mad,” said the They Cloned Tyron star, “First of all, we’re not getting rid of Han Solo, Luke Skywalker, all these people. We’re not doing that. The first thing we’re going to do is fulfill their story, fulfill their legacy. We’re going to make a good moment of handing on the baton.”

Boyega was discussing the fact that the sequels killed off original characters Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in ways that upset many legacy Star Wars fans. He definitely remains a hardcore fan, but one that wants to discuss the issues with the franchise in a way that is honest and ultimately makes it better.

“Our new characters,” said Boyega, “will not be OP’d [overpowered] in these movies. They won’t just grab stuff and know what to do with it. No. You’ve got to struggle like every other character in this franchise. I’d do that.”

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The actor also said he would look to the Old Republic stories “and see what we can add to the continuation of that.”

“I would definitely want to see Force Unleashed stories in there,” he continued. “I would try to expand the Star Wars universe as much as possible while respecting the lore. If we’re expanding the lore, we have to do it in within the respective boundaries that stay true.”

Let’s be clear, Actors and directors have varying techniques and sometimes come to a point of irreconcilable artistic differences. Boyega is simply sharing his thoughts with the creative choices made on the films. This has nothing to do with J.J Abrams or Rian Johnson’s vision. In his humble opinion, the death of Mark Hamill‘s Luke Skywalker would have gone down differently if he had been in a position to make those kinds of decisions.

“But Luke Skywalker wouldn’t be disappearing on a rock,” concluded Boyega, “Hell no. Standing there and he’s, like, a projector? I would want to give those characters way more.”

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Boyega seems very passionate about Star Wars lore. He clearly understands the characters, their motivations, and the universe that exists.

Recently he expressed interest in rejoining the Star Wars universe as Finn but at this point only Daisy Ridley is confirmed to return as Rey in an upcoming new Star Wars film. Boyega’s return as Finn has not yet been confirmed at the time of writing. 

One of the biggest mistakes the sequel trilogy made was never having the OG big three — Luke, Leia, and Han Solo (Harrison Ford) — reunite on screen. It would do a disservice to long time fans by not having Finn and Rey come back together as well.

May the Force be with you…

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Chad Stevens is a freelance writer who has contributed to StarWarsNewsNet.com, MovieNewsNet.com, Outerplaces.com, Nerdist, and more. Follow me on X @RealChadStevens to talk Star Wars, Star Trek, Apple Computers, politics and more.