J.J. Abrams Says THE RISE OF SKYWALKER is Not “Flipping Off” THE LAST JEDI
There seemed to be a few moments in the Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker where fans felt that J.J. Abrams was trying to fix some things from The Last Jedi that maybe he and some of the fans didn’t care for. For example, the way Luke treated the Lightsaber and Rey’s parents being nobody. Well, apparently Abrams was not trying to reverse what director Rian Johnson did with the way he handled things in the latest film
During a recent Q&A screening of the film, Abrams once again explains he wasn’t trying to backtrack on the story elements in The Last Jedi, saying:
"It will be a much more interesting answer if there were conflict. The truth is that I was getting [The Force Awakens] up and running, I was nothing but grateful that a director and writer I admire as much as Rian was coming in to do that. Not expecting to come back to this, it was just fun to watch what was happening and get to respond to it. When I was called to come on to this movie, of course I wish we had that time that we didn't."
Abrams went on to explain that he and his co-writer Chris Terrio had many discussions with Johnson while writing The Rise of Skywalker, and that the choices he made with The Last Jedi provided new opportunities:
"It's been nothing but collaborative in a way, the perspective at least personally I got stepping away and seeing what Rian did, strangely gave us opportunities that would never have been there. Because, of course, he made choices that no one else would have made. Just as we all do, as any of us in this room do. In a way, it felt like a gift. And though there were challenges in every direction — some logistical, some narrative, everything — it was actually weirdly more helpful than not having that other energy, it felt like a sort of alchemy, because of the things that he did."
Abrams then goes on to insist that The Rise of Skywalker is not “flipping off” Johnson and The Last Jedi as some fan are saying:
“Another thing I'll say is I think that people who say, 'Oh, this film is flipping off The Last Jedi when Luke says the thing he does about the lightsaber.' If the scene in The Last Jedi where Luke tosses the saber over his shoulder were immediately followed by Luke saying 'A Jedi's weapon deserves more respect,' I'd think it was insane. But one of the many brilliant things that Rian did in Last Jedi is give Luke an arc. He learned something. He got somewhere. At the end of that film, he committed - recommitted - to the thing that at the very beginning of the film he was rejecting."
The question is... do fans buy it? I think Abrams is sincere in his words, but I can totally see why some fans would feel that Abrams is trying to reverse the things that Johnson did in The Last Jedi. What do you think about Abrams thoughts on Rian Johnson and The Last Jedi?