Now that the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy has come to an end, it seems that Finn actor John Boyega no longer feels the need to walk on eggshells when it comes to sharing his opinions on both the franchise and the fandom.
Even in the lead-up to the release of The Rise of Skywalker, Boyega was dropping the occasional hint that he wasn’t entirely happy with Disney’s treatment of the Skywalker Saga and his character in particular. But ever since the latest film reached theaters, it looks like the star’s personal speech filter has dropped almost entirely, to the delight of some fans and the disappointment of others.
In one recent Instagram post, for instance, Boyega shared a stylized video in which he beats up, destroys and scooters over various tweets from his trolls and critics:
Just as Boyega presumably intended, the video succeeded in getting many of his detractors all the more riled up. Over on Twitter, however, there were also quite a few fans who were glad to see the actor finally hitting back at all the social media users who’ve been hounding him for the past five years:
i, for one, think that john boyega clowning on a group of people who consistently harassed him and used every opportunity to target him with racism & antiblackness for years is one of the best things to come from the end of the skywalker saga
— made new account! check pinned (@tobesappho) January 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/starkfalcons/status/1215791146938654723
john boyega getting back at these annoying ass r*ylos who have been blantantly racist and fuckin annoying for years now that he cashed that check & his contract is over …. you LOVE to see it https://t.co/1fSvPb5KJv
— dot | check pinned (@SOFTSATORl) January 11, 2020
Good for John Boyega. Some fans were absolutely terrible to him and were vile. He has the right to vent and to give it back. Wicked proud of him for standing up for himself against those people.
— Mandalorian Mark (@MarkMandalorian) January 11, 2020
https://twitter.com/mandameron/status/1215788634336563200
john boyega razor scootering over the tweet of a white woman who was catfishing people with the avi of a black girl to drag john is the best moment of the decade i think. pic.twitter.com/WWyR1YH66O
— sylvia. (@songofjon) January 11, 2020
Reylos: publicly tag John Boyega in posts in which they berate him, insult, slander him, and say racist and obscene shit about him to his face.
John: publicly reposts their publicly-made comments in which he had been tagged
Reylos: pic.twitter.com/R7oxfJozaa
— Jedi General Finn (@Darth_H8er) January 11, 2020
Indeed, Boyega is just one of several Sequel Trilogy stars who’ve had to endure heavy online trolling ever since they joined the Star Wars franchise. Rose Tico actress Kelly Marie Tran, for example, was subject to vicious harassment after appearing in 2017’s The Last Jedi, pushing the star to seek therapy and quit social media with no intention of ever returning.
You could therefore say it’s appropriate that Boyega is ending his run in the series with further online controversy. While The Rise of Skywalker comes across as a clear attempt to reunite the Star Wars fandom, it seems that things are as tense as they’ve ever been.
