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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker makes Finn less 'goofy' than Last Jedi

John Boyega gets serious in Episode IX, which opens in a month.

Gael Cooper
CNET editor Gael Fashingbauer Cooper, a journalist and pop-culture junkie, is co-author of "Whatever Happened to Pudding Pops? The Lost Toys, Tastes and Trends of the '70s and '80s," as well as "The Totally Sweet '90s." She's been a journalist since 1989, working at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, Twin Cities Sidewalk, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, and NBC News Digital. She's Gen X in birthdate, word and deed. If Marathon candy bars ever come back, she'll be first in line.
Expertise Breaking news, entertainment, lifestyle, travel, food, shopping and deals, product reviews, money and finance, video games, pets, history, books, technology history, generational studies. Credentials
  • Co-author of two Gen X pop-culture encyclopedia for Penguin Books. Won "Headline Writer of the Year"​ award for 2017, 2014 and 2013 from the American Copy Editors Society. Won first place in headline writing from the 2013 Society for Features Journalism.
Gael Cooper
2 min read
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Disney

We only have a month until Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker opens in theaters and concludes the latest trilogy. One person who's happy about that is John Boyega, who says he's done with the fooling around of previous movie The Last Jedi.

"I definitely wanted more after Episode VIII," Boyega says in a new Entertainment Weekly interview about the forthcoming  Star Wars  Episode IX, which opens worldwide Dec. 20. He says his character, former Stormtrooper Finn, will be more than just a "comedic goofy dude who never gets stuff done."

Fans were divided about The Last Jedi's irreverently comic tone, but it seems that Finn will get serious in Rise of Skywalker.

New shots from the film include Finn hanging out with new character Jannah, (Naomi Ackie) who was glimpsed in a recent trailer riding a space horse. And there's an image of Rey (Daisy Ridley) facing what appears to be a training drone similar to one used by Luke Skywalker in the very first Star Wars film.

Another shot from the film sees Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) take the pilot's chair of the famed Millennium Falcon. And he looks a little ... shocked? Startled? Stunned? Who knows what Poe, Chewbacca and Finn are seeing in front of the Falcon.

The magazine doesn't reveal what causes the astonished look on Poe's face, but it does confirm it's his first time flying the ship that's forever associated with Han Solo and Chewie.

In a short video interview included with the photo, Isaac notes that his character and the other Rebels start the new film in a tough situation. "They're desperately seeking for allies throughout the galaxy, and (they've had) no luck," he says.

Watch this: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker - Official Trailer (2019)

And when asked about the relationship between Poe and Boyega's character Finn, one numerous fans wish would turn into a romance, he's pretty positive about it. Isaac says there's a "deep, deep connection" between the two characters as well as between himself and Boyega. 

"Ultimately, they believe in each other and they're a team," he said, noting that the story "holds that potential" for a romantic relationship.

Writer and director JJ Abrams admitted that at the time of the interview the film was still a work in progress. "It's literally a practical race to get it finished," he said. But that's ok -- unlike his first Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens, the production team know what they're doing this time. 

Lego Millennium Falcon: Feast your eyes on 17 gorgeous photos

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Originally published Nov. 18. 
Update, Nov. 19, 9:04 a.m. PT: Adds updates from EW article.