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Part of a series on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. [View Related Entries]


Overview

#BlackStormtrooper is a hashtag associated with online backlash surrounding British actor John Boyega’s appearance as a Stormtrooper soldier in the teaser trailer for the 2015 science fiction film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Background

On November 28th, 2014, a teaser trailer for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on the Movieclips Trailers YouTube channel (shown below). The trailer opens with a shot of the fictional desert planet Tatooine, where a Stormtrooper (played by Boyega) suddenly pops into frame from below.

Developments

Online Reaction

That day, Twitter users began commenting on Boyega's appearance with the hashtag #BlackStormtrooper,[1] some of which joked about his race or questioned it's canonical validity in the Star Wars universe (shown below).

Fish @fishpool86 * Follow l thought all storm troopers were clones of Jango Fett #BlackStormTrooper ? わ ★ RETWEET FAVORITES 3 11:36 AM- 28 Nov 2014
Follow Robert Hernandez @webiournalist #BlackStormTrooper better not die first, or I am going to be p-----. わ ★ RETWEETS FAVORITES 37 37 11:44 AM- 28 Nov 2014

Also on November 28th, Redditor MatthewWilkes submitted a screen captured image of Boyega from the trailer titled "We ain't found shit!", in reference to a scene featuring an African American stormtrooper in the 1987 comedy film Spaceballs. In less than a week, the post gathered more than 4,200 votes (84% upvoted) on the /r/funny[4] subreddit. Meanwhile, in a comment thread about the trailer on the /r/videos[5] subreddit, Redditors discussed Boyega's appearance in the film. On the following day, IGN Forums[3] member Virus_698 submitted a thread titled "So why is there a black stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie?"

Boyega's Response

On November 29th, Boyega posted a message on Instagram[2] giving thanks to his fans, along with a statement for certain readers to "Get used to it" (shown below). Within one week, the post gained over 4,700 likes and 690 comments.

Thank you for all the love and support! The fan mail and fan art has added to my joy! Isn't it crazy that Star Wars is actually happening? I'm in the movie but as a star wars fan l am very excited! A year is a long time but it will be worth the wait. To whom it may concern... Get used to it. :) Follow jboyega 4 days ago With love xxx groonk, livinginchrist, theduke11b and 4.7k others like this

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the Internet response to Boyega, including The Daily Dot,[6] The Christian Science Monitor,[7] The Atlantic,[8] CNN[9] and the New York Daily News.[10]

Search Interest

External References



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#BlackStormtrooper

#BlackStormtrooper

Part of a series on Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. [View Related Entries]

Updated Dec 15, 2024 at 07:13PM EST by LiterallyAustin.

Added Dec 03, 2014 at 03:20PM EST by Don.

PROTIP: Press 'i' to view the image gallery, 'v' to view the video gallery, or 'r' to view a random entry.

Overview

#BlackStormtrooper is a hashtag associated with online backlash surrounding British actor John Boyega’s appearance as a Stormtrooper soldier in the teaser trailer for the 2015 science fiction film Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Background

On November 28th, 2014, a teaser trailer for the film Star Wars: The Force Awakens was released on the Movieclips Trailers YouTube channel (shown below). The trailer opens with a shot of the fictional desert planet Tatooine, where a Stormtrooper (played by Boyega) suddenly pops into frame from below.



Developments

Online Reaction

That day, Twitter users began commenting on Boyega's appearance with the hashtag #BlackStormtrooper,[1] some of which joked about his race or questioned it's canonical validity in the Star Wars universe (shown below).


Fish @fishpool86 * Follow l thought all storm troopers were clones of Jango Fett #BlackStormTrooper ? わ ★ RETWEET FAVORITES 3 11:36 AM- 28 Nov 2014 Follow Robert Hernandez @webiournalist #BlackStormTrooper better not die first, or I am going to be p-----. わ ★ RETWEETS FAVORITES 37 37 11:44 AM- 28 Nov 2014

Also on November 28th, Redditor MatthewWilkes submitted a screen captured image of Boyega from the trailer titled "We ain't found shit!", in reference to a scene featuring an African American stormtrooper in the 1987 comedy film Spaceballs. In less than a week, the post gathered more than 4,200 votes (84% upvoted) on the /r/funny[4] subreddit. Meanwhile, in a comment thread about the trailer on the /r/videos[5] subreddit, Redditors discussed Boyega's appearance in the film. On the following day, IGN Forums[3] member Virus_698 submitted a thread titled "So why is there a black stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie?"

Boyega's Response

On November 29th, Boyega posted a message on Instagram[2] giving thanks to his fans, along with a statement for certain readers to "Get used to it" (shown below). Within one week, the post gained over 4,700 likes and 690 comments.


Thank you for all the love and support! The fan mail and fan art has added to my joy! Isn't it crazy that Star Wars is actually happening? I'm in the movie but as a star wars fan l am very excited! A year is a long time but it will be worth the wait. To whom it may concern... Get used to it. :) Follow jboyega 4 days ago With love xxx groonk, livinginchrist, theduke11b and 4.7k others like this

News Media Coverage

In the coming days, several news sites published articles about the Internet response to Boyega, including The Daily Dot,[6] The Christian Science Monitor,[7] The Atlantic,[8] CNN[9] and the New York Daily News.[10]

Search Interest

External References

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Recent Images 29 total


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