John Boyega Mocks Claim That Rey is the Most Powerful Jedi
John Boyega is laughing off a claim from a website that Rey is a more powerful Jedi than even Luke Skywalker or Anakin Skywalker.
Fans have been split over the direction of the new Star Wars films released by Disney, dubbed the “Sequel Trilogy.” Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Rian Johnson, and the Lucasfilm team faced a problem: how do you inject Jedis and lightsaber battles into a trilogy without using Luke Skywalker?
For whatever reason, it was decided that Luke would not be the focus of the new films. With six Star Wars films already giving fans lots of lightsaber fights and Jedi action, that meant the trilogy’s protagonist, Rey, had to pick up the slack to meet fan expectations.
That meant Rey had to pick up Force sensitivity and lightsaber skills quickly, without the “trial and error” Luke or even Anakin faced in their hero’s journey. That led to fan backlash, calling Rey a “Mary Sue,” a term for a hero figure who is conveniently the best at everything.
While the “Mary Sue” term may be a bit unfair, the lack of character development for Rey is a legitimate gripe for a saga that is all about the hero’s journey. Some have argued – correctly – that by speeding up Rey’s mastery of the Force, the audience is robbed of the chance to sympathize and bond with the character.
In response, some Rey defenders have gone a bit overboard to justify her character becoming a near-Jedi master with little to no training.
Enter Renaldo Matadeen of Comic Book Resources, who wrote a article entitled “Rise of Skywalker Prequel Proves Rey Is a Better Jedi Than Anakin or Luke.” Even among Rey fans, such a statement is Star Wars heresy, and rightfully so.
It should be noted that Comic Book Resources is prone to posting terrible “hot takes” and clickbait headlines. That has earned them a fair amount of scorn and a bad reputation from fans.
Now, you can count Sequel Trilogy star John Boyega (Finn) among their critics.
In the article, Matadeen claims that a new Marvel Star Wars comic proves “(Rey) really and truly is a better Jedi than Anakin or, for that matter, Luke Skywalker ever were at this stage in both of their careers.”
Matadeen uses the storyline in “Journey to Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker — Allegiance” to justify his claim. In the comic, Rey is shown going on missions and using the Force in battle with master-like skill. Matadeen claims that because she does these things without the benefit of a teacher or mentor like Obi-Wan Kenobi or Yoda, she is obviously more powerful
“It’s clear she’s just as much a Chosen One as Anakin Skywalker was,” Matadeen claims. Not only is that a stupid statement (It’s Chosen ONE, not Chosen ONES), it contradicts George Lucas himself, who stated Anakin is the Chosen One.
It’s nonsensical to claim that criticism of Rey’s development is unwarranted, just because she is shown growing in Force strength in a comic prequel to the third film.
It is the claim that Rey is more powerful than Anakin or Luke, however, that got Boyega’s attention.
“Iām sorry guys but Anakin slapping all of us in a pit of lava. Including Kylo ššš,” Boyega said in a response to the story.
Here is a screenshot of his tweet (in case Lucasfilm makes him delete the tweet).
Here’s a link to the tweet itself.
Many fans were in agreement, and were surprised he was willing to speak the truth.
Post your thoughts in the comments section below on the tweet by John Boyega. In addition, share this on social media.
I don’t agree. He’s powerful sure, but a lot of his skill was also developed post-Jedi. If we only count an individuals time as a Jedi. Luke is the only one that has shown the shear power to project himself across a galaxy. That feat in itself may even place Luke over Anakin/Vader. But at least as a Jedi I’d say he’s over Anakin, for that matter Yoda’s probably over Anakin. If we’re talking skill though I’d say Rey is definitly in the mix for the top spot. Probably comes down to her and Mace Windu, with a nod to Obi Wan Kenobi.