Latest news with #Boyega
Metro
3 days ago
- Entertainment
- Metro
Star Wars actor says the series has ‘gotta give us Battlefront 3 ASAP'
One of Andor's stars has helped bring Star Wars Battlefront back into the spotlight and he's not the only one amongst the cast to be an avid gamer. It's been more than five years since EA wrapped up support for Star Wars Battlefront 2 and while the company has continued to push out new titles for the franchise, it appears to have little interest in making a Battlefront 3. Over the last few weeks, though, Battlefront 2 enjoyed a sudden surge in players, on both PC and consoles, which has prompted some hope that EA will be encouraged to start work on a new sequel. It's not entirely clear what promoted the surge in interest, but it seems to have been a combination of Star Wars Day in early May, the 20th anniversary of Revenge of the Sith (which became the highest-grossing re-release of all time in the US), and the second season of Andor on Disney+. Speaking of which, actor Muhannad Ben Amor, who played the role of Wilmon 'Wil' Paak in Andor, has also expressed his interest in seeing a third entry in the multiplayer shooter series. In the wake of the show's conclusion earlier this month, he took to Instagram to say, 'Star Wars gotta give us Battlefront 3 ASAP.' He also shared a screenshot of his playtime on Battlefront 2, revealing he's spent about 469 hours on the game: 'Been a veteran since day one. Let's hope Battlefront 3 happens!' Considering Amor would have been a young teenager when Battlefront 2 was out (he's roughly 19 or 20 years old and the game launched in 2017), he's clearly in pretty deep. His original posts were Instagram Stories, so they've already automatically deleted themselves, but fans on Reddit were quick to save them as screenshots to spread Amor's comments around. According to SteamDB, Battlefront 2's concurrent player count has reached over 18,600 players, the most it's ever been since the game launched on Steam in 2020. The game has also shot up the best-seller lists on Xbox and PlayStation 5. Mats Helge Holm, who served as associate producer on Battlefront 2's Celebration Edition, has weighed in on the situation, stating on Reddit that there's interest amongst the old team to work on a sequel: '… having heard around my group of ex-colleagues, we want to get the gang back together.' It's not him but the bean counters at EA who get to make that decision, although this wouldn't be the first time a Star Wars actor influenced one of their games. John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy of movies, publicly complained about the lack of a single-player campaign in the 2015 Star Wars Battlefront, which led to EA offering him an invitation to its UK studio. EA never publicly said Boyega's comments contributed to the decision to add a campaign mode to Battlefront 2, but it did get one and Boyega agreed to do some marketing for it. Perhaps surprisingly though, Ben Amor is not the only keen gamer amongst the Andor cast. Ben Mendehlson, who played Director Krennic (a role he reprised from Rogue One), has previously expressed his love for the likes of The Last Of Us, Fallout, and the Civilization series. More Trending He was no doubt surprised to discover then, that Andor co-star Denise Gough was the voice of Yennefer in The Witcher 3; a role she admits she forgets she's done sometimes. That suggests that Mendehlson is probably more of a single-player fan, but we get the sense he'd jump at the opportunity to lend his voice to Battlefront 3 if it featured Krennic. As for what Star Wars games EA is working on, its next release is strategy game Star Wars: Zero Company, which has enough similarities to XCOM to make it one of our most anticipated releases of 2026. A third Star Wars Jedi game is also on the cards and will serve as the 'final chapter' of protagonist Cal Ketis' journey – although it's not yet been formally announced. Email gamecentral@ leave a comment below, follow us on Twitter, and sign-up to our newsletter. To submit Inbox letters and Reader's Features more easily, without the need to send an email, just use our Submit Stuff page here. For more stories like this, check our Gaming page. MORE: The greatest Star Wars game ever created could never be made today MORE: The 10 best Star Wars games to play right now on PS5, Switch, Xbox, PC MORE: Star Wars Jedi: Survivor review – best lightsaber game ever
Forbes
05-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
John Boyega Calls Out ‘Star Wars' For Its Overwhelming Whiteness
John Boyega as Finn from The Force Awakens In a new Apple TV documentary, actor John Boyega had some harsh words for the Star Wars universe. The call-out is as much directed at the creators of the franchise and its fans. In the docuseries Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood, Boyega said: Boyega added: This may be true for some fans, but I think Boyega was more on-point in 2020 when he told GQ Magazine, 'What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It's not good. I'll say it straight up.' The fundamental problem most Star Wars fans had with Boyega's character, disillusioned Stormtrooper, Finn, in the Disney sequel trilogy, was that he really didn't have much to do. Marketing made it look like he'd be a really important character and then he just wasn't. One of my biggest problems with the sequels is how flimsy the core 'friend group' was compared to the original trilogy. Finn, Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) were never given the opportunity to really gel the same way that Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill), Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) were. They were separated from one another for the vast majority of the three films rather than given the kinds of great adventures and bonding moments that the original trilogy gave its core trio, and that led to much less compelling camaraderie and characters. Finn should have been given more to do and a more important role in the story that kept him nearer to the central conflict. He should have had Force powers at the very least, which is what the teasers certainly indicated. Instead, he was tossed aside in the second film, given a new buddy to hang out with rather than Rey or Poe, and basically made irrelevant to the plot. The same can be said for Poe Dameron, whose character never really developed in any direction throughout the trilogy. We never got the tension between these characters that was so palpable between Han and Leia, or Han and Luke, etc. though I suppose we never got the awkward 'Hey, I'm actually your sister, how about that kiss we shared?' moment either. The good news is that some new Star Wars content has been able to create more diversity in a way that feels organic and not like pandering at all. Namely, Andor, which is the most diverse Star Wars offering to-date, even more so than The Acolyte, which was roundly criticized for prioritizing messaging over storytelling. Andor is brilliant and effortlessly diverse, with people of color, queer characters and some of the best female heroes and villains in Star Wars we've seen. It's a great example of how you can incorporate diversity while still focusing on telling a great story. Whether or not Star Wars is too white, John Boyega and Finn certainly deserved better. Everyone deserved better than what we got with the Star Wars sequel trilogy. The Force Awakens had real potential to kick off a brilliant new era in Star Wars, but it was squandered thanks to poor management and the total lack of a coherent overarching story between that film, The Last Jedi and The Rise Of Skywalker. Just another cinematic tragedy in a galaxy far, far away.
The Hill
01-04-2025
- Entertainment
- The Hill
John Boyega: Star Wars ‘most whitest, elite space'
British actor John Boyega is blasting racism among the Star Wars fanbase — and the creators behind the historic franchise who cave to their demands. 'Lemme tell ya, Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most whitest, elite space,' Boyega said in an interview with the new documentary series 'Number One on the Call Sheet.' It's not the first time Boyega has criticized the franchise, previously telling Disney, '[D]o not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side. It's not good. I'll say it straight up.' Boyega, who played ex-stormtrooper Finn from 2015 to 2019, was initially meant to co-lead in 'The Force Awakens' and 'The Last Jedi,' but wound up with a supporting role in 'The Rise of Skywalker.' At the time, he accused the franchise of giving 'all the nuance' to his white co-stars Daisy Ridley and Adam Driver. 'You knew what to do with these other people, but when it came to Kelly Marie Tran, when it came to John Boyega, you know f— all,' he said. Before the Disney+ spinoffs, the most well-known Black actors in the Star Wars franchise were Billy Dee Williams in the original series and Samuel L. Jackson in the George Lucas-directed prequels. 'They're OK 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!'' Boyega said in the new Apple TV+ documentary. The franchise has tried to expand its diversity but has faced major backlash from fans in response. Amandla Stenberg, who starred in 'The Acolyte' before it was canceled, said she faced 'hyper-conservative bigotry and vitriol, prejudiced hatred and hateful language.' Kelly Marie Tran, who had a main role in 2017's 'The Last Jedi,' deleted her social media after enduring months of racist and sexist abuse. Tran, who is Vietnamese-American, was the first woman of color to play a major role in the series. Boyega said he believes the lack of diversity in Star Wars stems directly from fans who do not want to see non-white actors in the franchise. '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 said. 'It's like telling me how many cookie chips are in the cookie dough. It's like, they just scattered that in there, bro!' Despite his criticism, Boyega said his time with the franchise became a pivotal point for his acting career. ''The Force Awakens' to me was a fundamental moment,' he said. 'We waited months for that. When that big call came in, that's that call that all those stars talk about that changed their life and stuff. It's like, 'That's it? That's the call!' It's such an attack on reality.'
Fox News
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
'Star Wars' actor John Boyega says series was 'so White' in new documentary
"Star Wars" star John Boyega called out fans he says were upset at his casting in the blockbuster franchise, claiming in a new documentary about Black actors that some audiences aren't accepting of them in leading roles. "Let me tell you, Star Wars always had the vibe of being in the most Whitest, elite space," Boyega says in the Apple TV+ documentary, "Number One on the Call Sheet: Black Leading Men in Hollywood," according to Entertainment Weekly. Boyega, who played Finn for three films in the series, said that fans weren't used to a Black main character because Star Wars has always been "so White." "It's a franchise that's so White that a Black person existing in [it] was something," he said. The actor pointed to how the popular franchise had a handful of Black actors in prominent roles up to his casting, yet some fans would use these examples to dismiss his argument about a lack of diversity in the franchise. "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!" Boyega further said some fans would only accept Black actors playing the buddy role in films. "They're OK 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!'" Boyega said about online critics. Boyega previously opened up about the online backlash he received after his casting as the series' first Black Stormtrooper, telling British GQ Magazine in 2020 that he was the "only cast member who had their own unique experience of that franchise based on their race." In the same interview, he expressed frustration at Disney for diminishing his character's role in the last film of the trilogy, 2019's "The Rise of Skywalker." He said, "What I would say to Disney is do not bring out a Black character, market them to be much more important in the franchise than they are and then have them pushed to the side." The new Star Wars trilogy, beginning with "The Force Awakens" in 2015 and followed by 2017's "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker," grossed billions of dollars but divided the series' rabid fan base.
The Independent
31-03-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Actor slams Star Wars as ‘whitest, elite space'
Actor John Boyega has criticised Star Wars for its predominantly white environment and the racist backlash he faced after being cast. Boyega described the franchise as the "whitest, elite space". While Black actors like Billy Dee Williams and Samuel L. Jackson have had roles, their presence felt more like tokenism than substantial representation, he said. Boyega acknowledged Star Wars as a pivotal moment in his career but called out the racist abuse he and co-star Kelly Marie Tran endured due to their inclusion. He has previously criticised Disney for sidelining Black characters after initially promoting them as important figures.
