With The Rise of Skywalker, the latest Star Wars trilogy has reached its conclusion. These critically acclaimed films, however, failed to achieve the critical success of their predecessors. And over the years, tongues have loosened. Six years after its release, Star Wars: Episode IX reveals a little more of its brilliance, including a deleted scene that could have changed everything.
An alternative scene from Star Wars IX that could have changed everything
John Boyega, who played Finn in the latest Star Wars trilogy, has revealed that an alternative scene from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker would have made him a Jedi. Throughout the film, we see Finn trying to tell Rey that he has mastered the Force, or is at least sensitive to it. Finn never overshadows the franchise's main character, even though one scene could have changed everything.
In this alternate scene, which was left out of the final cut, Finn would have been much more direct than the attempts seen in Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. During a panel discussion held during the "John Boyega: The Force of Talent" panel at C2E2 2025, which was held this month in Chicago, USA, Boyega revealed that the scene had been filmed. Sequences captured during the quicksand on Pasaana during which he would have shouted from the heart to Rey: "I am a Jedi!".
As we know, this scene was not kept. Instead, The Rise of Skywalker showed us the beginnings of Finn, who tries to reveal his secret to Rey, but without success. And if Star Wars IX preferred to opt for a different scenario, it is because the amount of information to share on screen in a short time was too high. Abrams had already raised this point a few years ago, without specifying the exact terms used by Finn.
"The Rise of Skywalker, I had a great time. But I knew that because of the change in structure from The Last Jedi, it was really difficult for J.J. to come back and tie everything together. And I know he was well supported, and everyone wanted to make sure that the narrative completely wrapped up in the right way possible," Boyega explains.
I supported everything J.J. wanted to do, given that we had so much story in The Force Awakens. And some of Finn's story established in The Force Awakens was carried over by J.J. in The Skywalker Wake. And that's hard to do. It's hard to establish Rey and then establish another Jedi. You have to divide things up depending on the time you have. But I appreciate the little things that J.J. does in there. I mean, I tried to tell Rey before she fell. There were a couple of takes where I just said, "I'm a Jedi." There were a couple of those, but it was good to announce it. I wanted to say it when they go down in the quicksand. But I appreciate that J.J. put those Easter eggs in there and tried to expand on them. So, if Finn is ever revisited, there's plenty to play with."
It's easy to understand why the sequence wasn't kept in the edit. Such a revelation would have disrupted the entire plot of the film, forcing Rey to take a greater interest in her Finn's abilities. And if The Rise of Skywalker had decided to cut this narrative moment short, viewers would likely have found it abrupt and meaningless. Despite everything, this revelation is just one of the many examples of missed potential surrounding Finn's character.
A character who deserved better and who could have brought a certain freshness to The Rise of Skywalker. But the film's problems aren't limited to the character's missed potential, far from it, with a 9th opus that tries to salvage the situation. Called back to the helm to save a capsizing ship, J. J. Abrams did his best, for a trilogy that will undoubtedly remain a disappointment for many.
It remains to be seen whether Star Wars and Disney will attempt to make Finn's character shine again, potentially through a Disney+ series. But given the franchise's repeated failures of late and Finn's popularity with fans and purists alike, John Boyega's character is likely to remain gathering dust at the bottom of a drawer.
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