John Boyega's performance in Joe Cornish's Attack the Block made him a star, so it really wasn't all that surprising to learn he'd been tapped for a lead role in 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.
Amid speculation that he might be playing Lando Calrissian's son, the first teaser trailer revealed that he was a First Order Stormtrooper who would eventually become a Jedi. Unfortunately, Lucasfilm dropped the ball on Finn.
His story arc disappointed Boyega and Star Wars fans in equal measure. The Last Jedi, for example, separated him from Daisy Ridley's Rey and completely ditched the idea of a Stormtrooper potentially being attuned to the Force.
The Rise of Skywalker revisited that subplot, but the finale was so crammed full of story and apparent damage control that it never fully committed to the idea.
The British actor hasn't shied away from sharing his disappointment with his character arc or, at times, the Star Wars franchise as a whole. However, his stance on this Galaxy Far, Far Away appears to have softened in recent years, and Finn may yet find redemption.
Appearing at MEGACON Orlando (via ScreenRant), the actor was asked about potentially reprising the role, prompting one audience member at his panel to shout, "Get Dave [Filoni] on the phone." To that, Boyega replied, "I actually have, actually."
Filoni has been appointed the President and Chief Creative Officer of Lucasfilm after Kathleen Kennedy's departure (which was long overdue in the eyes of many fans), so it feels like something may indeed be happening here. We know Filoni is high on Simon Kinberg's post-Episode IX trilogy, and it could be there, or in the long-delayed Rey movie that Finn finally returns.
"Lemme tell ya, Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space," Boyega was quoted as saying last Spring. "It's a franchise that's so white that a Black person existing in [it] was something."
"You can always tell it's something when some Star Wars fans try to say, 'Well, we had Lando Calrissian and had Samuel L. Jackson!'" he continued. "It's like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It's like, they just scattered that in there, bro!"
"They're okay with us playing the best friend, but once we touch their heroes, once we lead, once we trailblaze, it's like, 'Oh my God, it's just a bit too much! They're pandering!'" he added, referencing the now-expected backlash when a franchise like Star Wars casts a Black actor in a lead role (see: Obi-Wan Kenobi and The Acolyte).
We'll have to wait and see what the future holds for Boyega and Finn in future Star Wars projects. If anyone can redeem the creative missteps of the sequel trilogy, it's Filoni, and all eyes are now on what he has planned for this franchise after Kennedy's hit-or-miss stint in charge.