John Boyega praises Marvel for 'elevating' diverse characters in 'The Falcon and the Winter Soldier.' It comes after the actor criticized Disney of his character's treatment in 'Star Wars.'
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Zac Ntim
May 21, 2021, 18:56 IST
John Boyega poses for photographers at the Bafta Film Awards, in central London, Sunday, Feb. 2 2020.Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP
John Boyega praised the diversity in Marvel's "Falcon and The Winter Soldier."
He said the show has correctly "elevated" its Black character, Anthony Mackie's Falcon.
Characters are "only as good as the moments that you give them," he said.
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Despite issues with how his own "Star Wars" character was treated in storylines, John Boyega praised "The Falcon and the Winter Soldier," Marvel studios' latest TV series, for the way it was able to elevate the story of its central Black protagonist.
"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" follows Black superhero The Falcon, played by Anthony Mackie, and The Winter Soldier, played by Sebastian Stan. At the end of the series, Mackie's character assumes the popular role of Captain America.
Boyega appeared on NPR's "Fresh Air" podcast this week, during which he said that characters are "only as good as the moments that you give them" on screen.
"When we talk about Captain America and [Sam] kind of facing off against Thanos and his army," he began, "when you talk about these moments that are given to characters, it's only because these moments are written by somebody. These moments are put in there on purpose to elevate characters."
He continued: "We've got people now watching 'Falcon and the Winter Soldier' and a lot of people have been commenting about the elevation of Falcon's character in the series and how they've really done well with bringing him up, which I also agree as well. That's because you give characters these special moments."
"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," he said during an interview with GQ magazine at the time.
Boyega's character, Finn, was first unveiled to fans as a key player in the new trilogy and even picked up his own lightsaber in 2015's "The Force Awakens." Still, in subsequent films, he became a progressively peripheral character alongside Tran who emerged as a leading character in the new trilogy's second film, but was largely absent in the third.
Boyega later said that his comments led to a "very honest, a very transparent conversation" with Disney executives.
"There was a lot of explaining on their end in terms of the way they saw things. They gave me a chance also to explain what my experience was like," he said.
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"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" has won acclaim for its pointed discussion about race and nationalism, which the show's lead writer, Malcolm Spellman, told Variety was his goal from the start.
"I think this is going to be an extremely relevant show in a lot of ways, and that is not by accident," he said.
"The magic of embracing diversity in the writer's room and having an almost all-Black staff allows you to tap into pop culture. I mean, Black folk are the masters of it, and when we get a shot, to do what we do, it is universal for everyone because our struggle and our point of view is a concentrated version of the greater human struggle."
"The Falcon and the Winter Soldier" is streaming on Disney Plus now.
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