Dylan O'Brien has reason to be relieved after successfully completing the Maze Runner movie franchise.
With the third and final installment, Maze Runner: The Death Cure, due in theaters Jan. 26, O'Brien can fully put behind him the serious head injury he suffered making the film two years ago.
"It’s a mixture of emotions for me. It means a lot to me to be able to finish the film and finish the trilogy," O'Brien tells USA TODAY. "The trilogy always meant the world to me and always will. And all these people will too."
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"What happened, it tainted that for a while," O'Brien adds of his injury. "And it wasn’t right. So it’s amazing, two years later almost, that we’ve completed it. I don’t know, it’s a trip."
After the April 2016 injury, which came during a Death Cure stunt gone wrong, film production was postponed. It was then fully shut down in March when it became clear how serious O'Brien's injuries were.
After hospitalization, O'Brien spent six months at home recovering and wondering if his acting career or health would ever be the same.
The 26-year-old star successfully stepped up to shoot his first movie following his injury, American Assassin (which came out in September).
After filming Assassin, O'Brien was able to join Maze Runner co-stars such as Thomas Brodie-Sangster and Ki Hong Lee to shoot Death Cure in March 2017.
The second shoot for the film in South Africa was a success. Seeing the film and franchise completed is a joy for O'Brien.
"It does flood me with this prideful kind of feeling. Like I conquered something," O'Brien says. "It just feels so right. I would never have been okay with how we left off. This is how I would have felt best, actually finishing it. And on the most positive note, which is how we started it."