Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson Says His Previous Dislike of the Prequels Helped Him 'Contextualise' Backlash to His Film

Director Rian Johnson's days "arguing connected the playground astir Star Wars" helped him process the backlash to The Last Jedi, the filmmaker has said.

Johnson, besides manager of Looper and Knives Out, said the polarised absorption to his Star Wars movie made him retrieve his erstwhile feelings to the franchise's prequel trilogy — and the "ruthless" discussions he'd had erstwhile younger.

Reaction to The Last Jedi remains divided, with immoderate fans appreciating its unexpected communicative turns, elevation of respective caller characters, and democraticisation of the Force. But others spot it arsenic excessively overmuch of a diversion — and seemingly Lucasfilm agreed, arsenic immoderate of Johnson's biggest communicative changes were unsubtly reverted successful the Skywalker Saga's finale, The Rise of Skywalker.

"Having grown up a Star Wars instrumentality yet fto maine contextualize it and consciousness astatine bid with it successful galore antithetic ways," Johnson told Rolling Stone, discussing the question of displeasure towards The Last Jedi from immoderate of the franchise's loudest fans. "Just remembering, going backmost connected 1 level to arguing connected the playground astir Star Wars arsenic a kid.

"I was successful assemblage erstwhile the prequels came out," helium continued. "My friends and I were Prequel Hate Central. Everyone was ruthless astatine the time.

"Now the prequels are embraced. I'm not saying that arsenic a facile, 'Oh, things volition flip astir successful 20 years, you'll see!' It's much that this propulsion and pull, and this hatred to worldly that seems new, this is each portion of being a Star Wars fan. Culture-war garbage aside, I deliberation that indispensable portion of it is simply a steadfast part."

Johnson's views connected the Prequel trilogy person evolved implicit the years, and successful 2020 helium described them arsenic a "gorgeous seven-hour-long movie for children astir however entitlement and the fearfulness of nonaccomplishment turns bully radical into fascists", portion praising Star Wars creator George Lucas for embracing "every method oversea alteration successful modern filmmaking" portion making it.

But however does helium consciousness astir J.J. Abrams' Rise of Skywalker — the movie which reverted Johnson's plans for Rey's parentage, sidelined immoderate of his cardinal characters, and brought backmost a zombiefied Palpatine to tie-up the saga successful yet different motion backmost to the past?

"When I saw the movie, I had a large clip watching it," Johnson said. "In my perspective, J.J. did the aforesaid happening with [Rise of Skywalker] that I did with [The Last Jedi], which is not digging it up and undoing — conscionable telling the communicative the mode that was astir compelling going forward. That means not conscionable validating what came before, but recontextualizing it and evolving and changing arsenic the communicative moves forward.

"I didn't consciousness resentful successful immoderate way. But you're talking astir a movie made by my friends, with my friends successful it. I beryllium down to ticker a movie, and it's a Star Wars movie. It's each worldly I love. I'm not the 1 to travel to for a hard-hitting critique. You tin spell to YouTube for that."

Next up for Star Wars is the apt much straightforward occurrence of The Mandalorian and Grogu , a big-screen outing for the fashionable Disney+ duo owed retired successful 2026. Star Wars: Starfighter, Shawn Levy's Star Wars movie starring Ryan Gosling, is owed retired successful 2027. After that, Lucasfilm is headed beyond its Star Wars sequel trilogy with a movie centered connected Rey, arsenic she looks to rebuild the Jedi Order astir 15 years aft The Rise of Skywalker.

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Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You tin scope Tom astatine [email protected] oregon find him connected Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social