Of course there are black stormtroopers.
John Boyega has broken his silence on criticism from some Star Wars fans struggling to come to terms with a black Stormtrooper in The Force Awakens. The British actor has one of the more prominent roles in the first trailer for the movie, though it quickly sparked an online backlash with #blackstormstrooper trending on Twitter over the weekend.
The Force Awakens trailer hit on Friday (November 28, 2014)
However, in a thank you note to fans on Instagram, Boyega signed off by writing, "To whom it may concern. Get used to it :)"
Most of the racist comments were posted on YouTube - often the primary hub for stupidity on the internet - and one user wrote: "The black stormtroopers is probally stealing his comrades speeder bikes and shoot his blaster nigguh-gangster style [sic]."
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Another wrote: "I had a feeling the new Star Wars is going to be filled with PC, SJW [social justice warrior] trash".
Oscar Isaac stars in The Force Awakens
However, the casting of Boyega was roundly praised and The Atlantic published a piece explaining that a black stormtrooper could exist because the army is based on clones that were not white.
"The clones were disavowed when order 66 was given and the commanders of the clones gave up their power to the chancellor. The stormtroopers are just normal people. Multi-race, Multi-ethnicities," YouTube commenter Ryan Barry wrote.
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens is due to be released on December 2015. As well as Boyega, it also stars Max Von Sydow, Domhnall Gleeson, Oscar Isaac and Adam Driver, as well as original stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher. The movie is written and directed by Star Trek helmsman J.J Abrams.
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