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Finn: I’m a big deal in the Resistance. Which puts a real target on my back…

Han Solo: Listen, “Big Deal.” You got another problem. Women always figure out the truth. Always.

In The Last Jedi, John Boyega’s Stormtrooper-with-a-conscience no longer has to fake his status in the Resistance. The actor tells EW that after helping take down the First Order’s Starkiller Base and being gravely wounded in combat with Kylo Ren, he’s finally the thing he always wanted to be:

A big deal. For real.

“The funny thing is, between VII and VIII, Finn’s now a big deal! He is now a big deal. Imagine that – you get taken down by Kylo Ren,” Boyega told us at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando, Florida. “Think about what the gossip’s going to be like in the Resistance. ‘Oh, that’s the guy that got slashed down by Kylo?’”

Boyega breaks into a grinning stride, winking and waving at imaginary Resistance fighters. “‘How you doing, guys? How you doing?’” he says. “‘Yeah, I was there. Then the Falcon picked me up… Oh yeah, I knew Han Solo by the way. We were pretty close.’ All that kind of stuff. They have a fan moment when they see him.”

Boyega can’t resist saying it again: “Finn’s a big deal.”

So, Han Solo’s prophecy came true. All of it.

Image zoom Gustavo Caballero/Getty Images

We only catch a glimpse of this not-so-humble hero in the trailer for The Last Jedi, showing him unconscious in a medical pod, recovering from the wounds inflicted by Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber.

Boyega jokes about trolling fans. “I told them Finn’s asleep the whole time, or just shows up at the end. Just gives a wink or has a hood he takes off, like Luke,” the actor says.

But the truth is, the character takes a while to get back on his feet.

“Finn’s in a bad way at the end of VII. He has a lot of issues. He got slashed with a saber, and that took him down real hard, so he’s in a coma,” the actor says. “That suit, that whole thing helps him to recover. But we’re not sure whether that means he’ll wake up.”

Spoiler: He wakes up. But he’s not exactly good as new.

“There’s some additional few things that need to be done to make him mobile. He’s definitely in a place where he needs some help,” Boyega says.

Image zoom ILM/Lucasfilm via AP

While some in the Star Wars universe become stronger after surviving that which does not kill them, Finn is walking wounded.

“It’s a grounding injury. It’s going to take him some time to get back on the ball. But when he does… oh, he does,” Boyega says.

There’s something else Star Wars fans should know: Recovering from a lightsaber wound is a more arduous process than most other injuries.

“Once it’s in, it continues to burn the skin and the cells. It’s not a piece of flame that whacks your body. It’s not something that works like a stab wound. It’s really brutal,” the actor says.

As in The Empire Strikes Back, the core team from The Force Awakens finds itself separated for much of the sequel. While Daisy Ridley’s Rey is training with Luke Skywalker, Finn is off on a separate quest with newcomer Kelly Marie Tran, who plays the Resistance mechanic Rose Tico.

“It’s Finn and Rose, they’re on a massive adventure. It’s a big mission they need to complete,” Boyega says. “The Resistance is under immense pressure, and it’s time for them to get a bit of help. That’s where Finn and Rose come in, and they’re thrust into a crazy adventure.”

But Finn has to be careful. If he becomes any more of a “big deal,” he’ll be collecting his praise and accolades posthumously.