John Boyega Is Right | Disney’s Star Wars Failed the Legacy Heroes

John Boyega has always been outspoken about Star Wars, and honestly? He’s right again. At Florida Supercon 2025, the actor who brought Stormtrooper FN2187 (Finn) to life in the sequel trilogy was asked what he would do if given the chance to remake the sequels… and his answer wasn’t just good, it was better than anything Lucasfilm actually did.

Boyega didn’t mince words.

“It would be mad. 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"

This is a dagger through the heart of Disney’s trilogy. They sidelined the very characters that made Star Wars timeless. Luke wasn’t the wise, hopeful Jedi Master we grew up with… he was bitter, hiding among rocks, waiting to die.

Han was reduced to a deadbeat dad who got killed off in his first movie. Leia? Well, she was hardly given the leadership arc she deserved, (R.I.P. Carrie).

Overall, Boyega nailed it in regards to the legacy characters. The passing of the torch should have been a celebration, not a funeral procession.

"Luke Skywalker wouldn't be disappearing on a rock ... Hell no. Standing there and he's, like, a projector? I would want to give those characters way more way more"

HE’S SPOT ON! Luke Skywalker, the hero of the original trilogy… The hero all kids strived to be, deserved more than vanishing into space dust after doing the Jedi equivalent of a Zoom call. That was not the Luke generations of fans looked up to.

But then Boyega pivoted to another major flaw he saw with the films… The new characters were overpowered from the start.

"Our new characters will not be 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"

Yes! Struggle is what makes Star Wars powerful.

Luke struggled.
Anakin struggled.

Rey? She basically became a Jedi Master overnight like it was an iPhone update. The sequels skipped the hero’s journey and went straight to cheat codes.

The great thing here though is Boyega wasn’t just criticizing… he actually had a vision for how to fix it.

"I'd 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. 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"

This is the Star Wars blueprint right here. Respect the lore.

Expand the universe without tearing down what came before.

Tap into the rich history of the Old Republic, or the fan favorite Force Unleashed.

Instead, Disney ignored decades of mythology and decided the best way forward was to kill off the legends while rushing into poorly planned sequels.

John Boyega didn’t just point out what went wrong… he laid out what could have been right. And it’s hard to disagree with him.

Lucasfilm, since Disney took over, has continuously mishandled Star Wars by disrespecting legacy characters and giving us half baked new ones.

If they had followed Boyega’s instincts, we wouldn’t still be arguing about the sequel trilogy today… we’d be celebrating it.