Your favorite former stormtrooper might be getting a bit of a makeover in Star Wars: Episode IX, because Finn is growing out his hair. In an article published Monday by Yahoo, actor John Boyega told press what’s next for his Star Wars character: “I can’t wait to start shooting the next and final leg of the [Star Wars] franchise. The first step is growing out my hair, so you can wait for the trailer to see why.” What could that mean for Finn and Episode IX?
Currently, details about Episode IX are pretty scarce, and we don’t even have an actual title yet. But if John Boyega needs to grow his hair out to continue playing Finn, the that could mean several different things. Every time someone’s changed their hair previously in the Star Wars galaxy, it was part of a Jedi padawan’s ritualistic progression through the Order’s ranks. But despite what the Force Awakens marketing wanted you to believe, Finn probably isn’t becoming a Jedi. A more likely explanation is that he’s trying to hide his identity or there’s a huge time jump between The Last Jedi and Episode IX.
Finn with Luke's lightsaber.
The fact that there was no time at all between The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi was actually kind of a surprise, so Boyega growing out his hair to accommodate a time jump forward is more keeping in line with Star Wars cinematic history. There was plenty of time between almost all of the previous Star Wars films, with a full decade between Episode I and II. Even in the original trilogy, there was about 3 years between A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back and then approximately another year until Return of the Jedi.
Another alternate explanation could be that Finn is now one of the most wanted people in the galaxy. If there are wanted posters in every cantina, then maybe he grows out his hair and maybe even beard to hide his identity? These theories aren’t even mutually exclusive. That small group of people flying away on the Millennium Falcon at the end of The Last Jedi was all that remained of the Resistance. It stands to reason that they’d all be wanted fugitives moving forward, especially now that the First Order effectively has military control over the galaxy.
The Episode IX release date was recently moved up to May 24, 2019 but for now we don’t know hardly anything about what the story will entail. Based on Boyega’s comments, they haven’t even started production, so we’re still very far away from a title confirmation and even further a trailer.
Hopefully Finn doesn’t change his badass look too much, because we couldn’t bear it if he stopped wearing Poe Dameron’s jacket.
