How do we put this delicately? Some of the decisions Rian Johnson made in Star Wars: The Last Jedi...rubbed people the wrong way. The handling of Luke Skywalker, Rey’s lineage, the fate of Snoke, all of these things instantly became lightning rods of debate and continue to be just that. Some fans even hope the sequel changes those things. And if they do, Johnson is OK with it.
While speaking to Johnson at CinemaCon 2019, MTV asked the writer and director of The Last Jedi if he’d be bothered if Star Wars: Episode IX co-writer and director J.J. Abrams retconned the revelation that Rey’s parents were no one. Johnson immediately shook his head and replied, “Like I said, man, I want to let go of all my expectations. I want to sit back. I want to be entertained. I want to be surprised. I want to be thrilled. I want him to do stuff I wasn’t expecting him to do and just go along for the ride.”
In other words, no, he won’t be bothered. He just wants to see something new and exciting, like he did himself by actually doing those things in the first place. (We love The Last Jedi, by the way, just to clear that up.)
The interview, which you can watch below, also touched on other topics that are important to fans of the franchise. So, no, as should be obvious from the previous quote, he does not know what’s going to happen in Episode IX. Outside of a few brief meetings, he’s out of the loop on the film. Yes, he is still working on his Star Wars movies. There’s no timeline as he’s waiting on Lucasfilm to figure out their slate. And yes, he’s very excited to see what David Benioff and D.B. Weiss do with their movies—which, like he said about Abrams’ upcoming film, he hopes are surprising.
“I’m also psyched about the things they are going to explore beyond what we’ve seen already,” Johnson said. “To me, that’s kind of the most exciting stuff is pushing the limits of seeing stuff we haven’t seen before in Star Wars.”
You know, like he did with The Last Jedi. Here’s the full interview.
Johnson’s next film, Knives Out—which looks like a Guy Ritchie/Matthew Vaughn gangster movie crossed with Clue, and is set at a family gathering where everyone is a murder suspect, featuring the most insane cast ever—is out this Thanksgiving.
Star Wars: Episode IX is set for a December 20 release, and we’ll finally get to learn more about it at Star Wars Celebration next week.
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