Star Wars: The Force Awakens
“Star Wars: The Force Awakens” star John Boyega teased what’s in store for his character, as well as the general tone of the script of “Episode 8.” Getty

With “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” a box-office smash, many are already looking ahead to the second installment in the new trilogy of films. Although the prequel “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” is poised to hit theaters first, the sequel to “The Force Awakens” is already filming and a star is teasing some minor plot details.

Speaking to the U.K. edition of Vogue, John Boyega, one of the many breakout stars of director J.J. Abrams’ masterpiece, “The Force Awakens,” revealed what’s in store for his character Finn when he returns in the as-yet-untitled “Episode 8.” Apparently, the actor will be hitting the gym and preparing for a significantly more action-packed role in this movie. When asked about his workout regimen for “The Force Awakens,” Boyega replied:

“No, for this film we really just took it scene by scene, there wasn’t a huge regime. My part in the next film will be much more physical, so I might be in the gym a bit more."

It would make sense for the Finn character to get in better shape [SPOILER ALERT] after he got beat up so bad in a lightsaber fight with Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) that he wasn’t even conscious at the end of the movie. Elsewhere in the interview, the 23-year-old actor mentioned that he’s read the script for Rain Johnson’s “Episode 8” and calls it “much darker.”

Speaking on the Hollywood Reporter’s podcast recently, Abrams addressed criticism that he relied too heavily on the plot structure of “Star Wars: A New Hope” to craft “The Force Awakens.” As CinemaBlend noted, with the actor commenting that “Episode 8” is inherently darker in tone, it may wind up following a similar trajectory as “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” As fans of the franchise will note, the first direct “Star Wars” sequel is considered to be the darkest in the collection given the fact that it purposely doesn’t have a happy ending.

Boyega isn’t the only cast member who has been poring over the “Episode 8” script, as evidenced by the recent remarks made by his co-star Daisy Ridley, who introduced the character of Rey to the franchise. Speaking to Variety very soon after “The Force Awakens” hit theaters, the British actress, also 23, revealed she likes the script a lot.

“It’s very good, very good,” Ridley said. “Let’s see ‘VII’ first and then we’ll talk about ‘VIII.’”

Unfortunately, there’s a great deal of time between now and the release of “Episode 8” May 26, 2017.

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