--- description: Abrams tried not to address the question on an appearance on the Howard Stern Show, but finally let the critics have it title: JJ Abrams Dismissed Critics of the Black 'Star Wars' Storm Trooper in the Best Way image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb5724dac605ddbb/698871e5bc6cfcb8303da744/john-boyega.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [movies](/tag/movies/) ## movies Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # JJ Abrams Just Dismissed Critics of the Black _Star Wars_ Storm Trooper in the Best Way  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 12:51 PM CUT  John Boyega portrays a stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie. John Boyega portrays a stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie.Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures  by [Justin Worland](/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Senior Correspondent Dec 1, 2015 12:51 PM CUT Remember when people on the internet [expressed anger](http://time.com/4066718/john-boyega-star-wars-black-stormtrooper/ "undefined") about a black storm trooper in the trailer for the upcoming _Star Wars_ film? Well, the film’s director J.J. Abrams is having none of it. Abrams tried not to address the question on an appearance on the [_Howard Stern Show_](https://soundcloud.com/howardstern/jjabrams%5Fcontroversy "undefined"), but finally let the critics have it. “I think the people are complaining about that probably have bigger problems than there’s a black storm trooper,” Abrams told Stern. Abrams also said that John Boyega, the actor who plays the character in question, did an “extraordinary” job in the movie. Abrams has been doing the late night show circuit in advance of the release of _The Force Awakens_ later this month. The director attracted attention last week when he revealed the first word in the new film in an interview with Jimmy Kimmel. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4130544/jj-abrams-star-wars-storm-trooper/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4130544/jj-abrams-star-wars-storm-trooper/"},"headline":"JJ Abrams Just Dismissed Critics of the Black Star Wars Storm Trooper in the Best Way","datePublished":"2015-12-01T12:51:07.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T12:59:12.330Z","description":"Abrams said John Boyega did an \"extraordinary\" job","url":"https://time.com/4130544/jj-abrams-star-wars-storm-trooper/","keywords":["movies"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb5724dac605ddbb/698871e5bc6cfcb8303da744/john-boyega.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blteb5724dac605ddbb/698871e5bc6cfcb8303da744/john-boyega.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"john-boyega-star-wars","caption":"John Boyega portrays a stormtrooper in the new Star Wars movie.","creditText":"Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/movies/","name":"movies"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4130544/jj-abrams-star-wars-storm-trooper/","name":"JJ Abrams Just Dismissed Critics of the Black Star Wars Storm Trooper in the Best Way"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Late Night Highlight: J.J. 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