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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker had its fair share of surprising moments. There was the return of Palpatine, a surprise appearance from Harrison Ford, the death of Kylo Ren, and much more.

However, one of the film’s biggest moments didn’t make it into the final cut.

During the film, Finn, Rey, Poe, Chewie, and the droids are sinking in quicksand. Believing they’re about to die, Finn tries to confess something to Rey, but he never gets to finish his declaration.

For years, it’s been an open secret that Finn was going to tell Rey that he had Force powers. J.J. Abrams revealed this during a 2019 screening of the film, adding that he decided to keep things open-ended in the final cut.

It turns out that John Boyega confessed his Jedi powers during some unused takes from the scene. Speaking to a crowd at the John Boyega: The Force of Talent panel at C2E2 2025, Boyega recalled filming the pivotal scene.

“Rise of Skywalker, I had a brilliant time. But I knew because of the structure change from The Last Jedi, it was really tough on J.J. to come back and tie everything together. And I know he was well supported, and everybody wanted to make sure that the narrative came to a complete end in the right way possible.”

Boyega went on to say that Finn’s line was cut because the movie didn’t have the space to explore the revelation.

“I was just supportive of whatever J.J. wanted to do, being as we had so much history from The Force Awakens. And some of the narrative about Finn that was established in The Force Awakens were picked back up by J.J. in The Rise of Skywalker. And it’s hard to do it. It’s hard to establish Rey and then establish another Jedi. You have to split things up with the time that you’re given. But I appreciate the little things that J.J. was doing in there. “I mean, I did try to tell Rey before I went down. There was a couple takes where I just said it, ‘[shouts] I’m a Jedi.’ There was a couple, but it was good to tease it.”

“I wanted to say it when they’re going down into the quicksand,” Boyega continues. “But, I appreciate J.J. for putting those Easter eggs in there and trying to expand. So, if there is ever a revisit of Finn, there is stuff to play with.”

Popverse members can watch John Boyega: The Force of Talent panel from C2E2 2025's Main Stage powered by CGC x JSA for yourself as part of Popverse's all-encompassing coverage of C2E2 2025. 

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