ST John Boyega (Finn) in Episode IX

- Agreed.
- No this was just a stupid moment. It was written so Rey's ligthsaber moment would be more dramatic.
- Canto Bight terrible.
- He couldn't even beat her properly, Rose had to distract her.
- He was great with Poe, but Rey? All of their interactions made Finn look stupid.

 

To me, in a way, TLJ shows how much LF views Finn as an important character. It’s painfully obvious to me that RJ had no use for Finn, but he was forced to write an arc for him anyway. Not just any arc - the second lead arc in face time and an actual hero’s journey that again runs parallel to the protagonist’s hero’s journey (Luke this time). LF doesn’t have a clue how to write Finn’s character at all, but they haven’t stopped treating him like the second most important hero of the trilogy.

 

It's definitely curious how the development of Finn's arc seems to have been a colossal mess from the start. He went from participating in the opening battle as a bomber crewman to sleeping through the whole thing, there was an entirely different "heist thriller" storyline for the Canto Bight sequence, and half the deleted scenes seemed to involve Finn.

It's like he just had no idea at all what to do with the character.

 

- So choosing to go down fighting for your friend/potential love interest rather than trying to run or surrender like a coward is “stupid”? No, it’s choosing to die with honor and dignity instead of fear and humiliation. Finn knows he’s going to die either way and he chooses to go down fighting.
- There’s no response here, you just say “no it’s bad”.
- And Luke only destroyed the Death Star because Han saved him from Vader. Guess it’s not an awesome moment for Luke anymore since he didn’t do it all on his own. Also, having Finn beat a grizzled, crack veteran like Phasma alone would have further damaged her own credibility. There’s give and take here, you want your villains to appear at least a little capable and competent.
- Defending Millennium Falcon from TIEs wasn’t stupid. Suggesting they flood the Falcon with toxic gas wasn’t stupid. Convincing BB-8 to give over the location of the Resistance base wasn’t stupid.

 

Bold Prediction! Finn falls to the dark side and names himself Darth Drano.

 

I'm a big Finn fan (he's my favorite ST character by far, though I definitely think TLJ was a disservice to him), I was infuriated by the Finn Age of Resistance preview, and ... I like the comic as a whole. After I saw the preview, I said one of the only things that could salvage it was hinting at Force sensitivity (without outright spoiling of course), and it did. The "bats" killed everyone who came near them (in defense, we'd learn), but they somehow trusted Finn as soon as he realized that they were the ones being attacked. They had NO reason to trust him after he used a flamethrower on them. But they did. Something more than compassion was going on there.

I don't like the mop scene more than I did before, but it was a bait and switch. Finn wasn't a janitor, he was given cleaning jobs as punishment for not towing the line. And he was better, tactically, than his own captain (who, served as his comic relief after the intense flamethrower panel).

The comic has issues, but ultimately, imo, it's much better than the preview suggested.

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Finn was a tremendous character in TFA. He was funny, relatable, and brought something new to SW that was clearly missing. The idea of a stormtrooper turning on the FO was a strong one, and the fact that JJ even gave him a lightsaber fight seemed to indicate the character might actually play a significant role in the overall plot of the ST. And then along came RJ, and instead of giving him a new direction, we got almost an exact repeat of his arc in TFA. His entire arc in TFA was about having him reject the FO and ultimately finding his place within the Resistance as a hero. But somehow RJ felt we needed to take him from "reluctant" hero to "willing" hero. And by the way, it's not like anything special happens in TLJ to actually cause him to change his outlook. He didn't experience anything that was personally traumatic or meaningful in order to get him from "reluctant" to "willing". Nothing personally significant happens to him on Canto Bight. I can only imagine how disappointed Jon Boyega must have been with his role in TLJ.

The future of the Finn character was wide open. He could have developed force powers. He could have gone back into the FO and tried to lead a rebellion amongst the stormtroopers. He could have learned something about his past that altered his perception of the world. Just the idea that he was taken as a baby and essentially brainwashed before finding his way out of there could have made for a fascinating character. There were several great options. But no. We got virtually nothing. And now it's up to JJ to once again make the character relevant. On the one hand, I'd love to see him get some serious screen time so his character can actually matter in the big scheme of things. On the other hand, there's only so much time in one movie, and Finn's story, along with Poe, IMO, needs to take a back seat to Rey, Kylo, Luke, Leia, and Palpatine.

It's almost unthinkable how poorly handled he was in TLJ.

 

@harlequinn823 Well, you have a very optimistic perspective on things and I can respect that.

I just don't see what the comic adds to anything, it ultimately ends up saying "Finn is a nice guy, the First Order are jerks," it was kind of interesting that the officer was terrified of what he thought was Finn trying to kill him, but there was nothing to that. He's just some nameless officer Finn had no apparent beef with, and Finn didn't even think of killing him.

Maybe Finn does have some kind of affinity with animals through the Force (that could maybe play into TROS with the horse creatures), but it's just as likely if not more so that Finn is just a nice dude and didn't agitate the bats when he was alone. There was no overt hint toward force sensitivity, and it's odd that you saw that as an objective fact from this comic IMO.

The comic also doesn't necessarily confirm that sanitation duties are purely for punishment. Even if it is, it's ridiculous that so much of what we know about Finn is his cleaning duties, and apparently his entire time in the First Order for like 20 years was mopping floors and tossing garbage because he wouldn't follow the rules, and rather than just killing him or "re-conditioning" him, they just kept assigning him to sanitation over and over.

 

I don’t think Finn’s story needs to take a backseat at all, not really, beyond just Finn being the deuteragonist and not the protagonist. I think Finn is the heart of this trilogy. The movie that treated him as the male lead imo was clearly more successful in almost every way than the one that didn’t. He's the only lead character that establishes deep bonds developed on screen every time he turns around (as opposed to Rey having totally undeveloped insta-connections just because, except with Finn). Even if he remains not force sensitive, his story needs a satisfying conclusion, and imo, Rey’s story needs him to be key to her emotional resolution. Rey and Kylo alone imo do not sell this trilogy. There’s no heart with their relationship, and it takes relationships for characters to fight for to get the wider audience invested.

 

I think the worst part about it is that it goes directly against what expanded universe material is supposed to do. It doesn't make Finn a deeper character nor does it actually show how he's tangibly influenced by the culture of this military junta he's in. It's completely regressive and only champions the really shallow portrayal of the character we currently have in the films.

 

I don't think FSF was overt in Finn #1, just to be clear. It's about as subtle as the "hints" in TFA. Which for me personally was one thing I was hoping for from the comic. Something Finn fans can chew on. Finn fans I know have been chewing on it (after a VERY negative reaction to the preview), so to me that's positive.

I'll be the first to admit I try to be optimistic when it comes to Finn.

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Seriously. Was something like this so hard to do for Finn?

A training scene where he opens up with:
" I have no name. I am FN-2187. I am a Stormtrooper of the First Order."

Yet I should be understanding with that "fear my mop" BS? I'm supposed to believe that his sanitation story was important to tell? This one page shows that the writer could have done far better than the garbage Finn comic we were given. He just didn't want to.

 

I think one of the most telling things was that Finn was supposed to get some kind of connection/emotional scene with Paige Tico early on in TLJ (which also would have helped his connection to Rose later on). But that was removed because, Rian "didn't feel like" writing an emotional scene for Finn there. So what did we get instead, more comedy. Specifically Finn being the butt of THREE pratfall/body humor jokes back to back to back.

That set the tone going forward sadly.

 

This question may have been asked and answered before (but just for my own benefit).

Take Force Sensitivity, Mandolrian lineage, and Storm Trooper Rebellion off of the table. With only the existing metadata (a former ST turned Rebellion) what are the things that could happen with/by/to/through Finn that you could be satisfied with his story?

I ask because most of the "sexy" suggestions seem to have been exhausted and thoroughly discussed already. And given how attractive they are, I am doubtful they will happen (apparently Finn being a Force User is one user too much, they're already coming out with a Mandalorian project that would explore that space, and there's no time to set up and execute a rebellion at this point). So let's assume none of those are it.

What could be the "it" that makes Finn's story worthwhile?

 

Maybe freeing kids from FO camps who were kidnapped to become Stormtroopers. This is the the storyline I wish Canto Bight explored with its slave children.

 

Smuggler. He has already experienced what the life of a smuggler is like by being around Han and Chewie. Finn has shown some signs of getting into and out of some places undetected. Maybe he becomes a pretty good pilot by learning from Rey and Poe then gets his own ship. That will also give him the chance to explore space plus run-in's with new Bounty Hunters. It would be interesting to also see what he can do with his skills as a weapons expert.

 

It would be easy, just let him contribute and be a bad ass. Show him as a capable warrior, or maybe he he becomes a capable pilot, but then wouldn't that be one too many pilots too? He could actually go off on a side mission that shows him with real cunning, and the mission actually contributes to the mission as a whole, maybe he could have a knack for covert operations, and show he was trained on more FO equipment than just a mop. Had the Canto Blight story not turned into a complete fuster cluck, then Finn could have already begun to establish that as his own unique MO.
I would love for the Finn FS story to actually materialize, but even without it, there are loads of options that could be used to make him a competent asset to the Resistance.

 

Can I tell you why I love this idea? Because through out the trilogies, we have always seen enslavement. OT, very much in the PT, and the ST, there's been enslavement and no matter who's in charge, good guys bad guys, it always remains the same. Slavery is just an accepted practice or at least tolerated. But with Finn's background it would give him a reason to fight against it, and a whole galaxy in which to execute this mission. I honestly would have been less perplexed by the whole Canto Bight wild goose chase if his time there convinced him that Empire vs Rebels 2.0 was not it for him. What was for him was to go his own way, seeking to emancipate the enslaved, whether they were in the First Order, under the rule of rich elite (as in Canto Bight) or if it happened on the watch of the Republic. THAT would have been a new wrinkle for SW. He wouldn't have to be FS or a Mandalorian, would just need a ship and weapons and maybe a crew (perhaps some fellow Storm Troopers that he liberated).

That would definitely make him (in my eyes) Han 2.0. But it would probably be a more original and thoughtful step than joining the Resistance just because.

Since they have postured him as a Resistance member, I think a Special Forces outfit is probably the only way he makes a splash going forward. If he is equally as inept and ineffective as a Resistance Fighter as he was shown to be an FO storm trooper (I'm talking about what's been shown on the screen not what's been talked about in supplemental materials), if all he does is "change jerseys" during this trilogy it will sound the death knell for this franchise for a lot of fans.

 

He doesn't have to be Han 2.0 at all. Chewie, Lando and Maz were smugglers as well. What would make Finn different is what he decides to smuggle. In fact rescuing slave children and taking them to safe locations is also smuggling if that's something you're looking for. There's not many occupations that would make sense for him. Regardless if Finn is force sensitive, is Mandalorian, a prince, or whatever else, he still needs to go on his own exciting adventures. There are other things that could happen as well. Maybe something happens where it triggers some effects of his conditioning. He can also still wield a lightsaber. He still an excellent strategist. After the FO is defeated, there could be Stormtroopers former Officers that go off and form their own villainous groups and Finn sets out to put an end to them. There's plenty of things there that can be worked with.

 

He needs to be Han 3.1

 

That's going to be hard to do when Rey is already the proprietar of the Falcon and can speak Shyriiwook

 

I would like to know when Finn does all these smuggling and rescuing slaves things? His story is done at the end of TROS, and there's no time for him to branch out in the movie itself.