The recent Florida Supercon welcomed John Boyega to the stage, and while many other stars would most likely dodge such a direct question, Boyega made like a V-4X-D ski speeder aiming for a Superlaser siege cannon and took it head on. The question was what would he do if he were to remake the Star Wars sequels, and his reply was thought-provoking, detailed and illuminating.
Asked by an audience member at his spotlight panel what he would do if he were to remake the Star Wars sequels he appeared in (that is, The Force Awakens, The Last Jedi, and The Rise of Skywalker, respectively), Boyega was incredibly honest.
“It would be mad,” said the Attack the Block 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.”
In case you’ve somehow avoided this area of internet discourse (I’m so jealous), Boyega is talking about the fact that the Star Wars sequels killed off original characters Han Solo and Luke Skywalker in ways that fans were… upset about. To put it mildly. But it wasn’t only the legacy characters whose arcs Boyega would’ve changed.
“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.”
Even beyond character specifics, though, Boyega’s Star Wars would’ve drawn from different sources than the new movies did.
“I’d look to the Old Republic stories,” the actor continued, “And see what we can add to the continuation of that. I would definitely want to see Force Unleashed stories in there. 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.”
“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 way more.”
There’s a lot to delve into here, and we’ll be sure to discuss this on episode 236 of Making Tracks, which lands early next week. To bathe your ears in more Star Wars goodness, check out episode 235 right here.
