At this point, I think it’s fair to say that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is the most divisive instalment of the Star Wars saga to date. The movie certainly has its fans, with many praising Rian Johnson for taking the franchise in a new direction, while others have slammed it for that very reason.
Among the criticism levied at the film is Johnson’s decision to brush over two of the biggest questions coming out of Star Wars: The Force Awakens – Rey’s parents, and the mystery surrounding Supreme Leader Snoke.
The filmmaker has previously stated that Lucasfilm had no overarching story in place for the trilogy, and as such he was granted full creative freedom to take Episode VIII where he wanted. However, if some comments from Daisy Ridley to French outlet Le Magazine GEEK (via The Playlist) are to be believed, J.J. Abrams had indeed written early drafts for Episode’s VIII and IX, but Johnson chose to ignore them entirely.
“J.J. wrote Episode VII, he also wrote drafts for VIII & IX,” said Ridley. “Then Rian arrived and re-wrote [The Last Jedi] entirely. I believe there was some sort of general consensus on the main storylines that would happen in the trilogy, but apart from that, we agreed that every director should probably make his movie his own way. Rian and J. J. Abrams met many times to discuss The Last Jedi, although Episode VIII is very much mostly Rian’s and I do believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of the Episode VIII script.”
Now that Abrams is returning to the Saga for Star Wars: Episode IX, it will be interesting to see if Lucasfilm reverts back to his original plans for the trilogy, assuming that is still possible after the events of The Last Jedi.
SEE ALSO: Star Wars: The Last Jedi deleted scene shows alternate fate for Captain Phasma
In Lucasfilm’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the Skywalker saga continues as the heroes of The Force Awakens join the galactic legends in an epic adventure that unlocks age-old mysteries of the Force and shocking revelations of the past.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi sees returning cast members Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker), Carrie Fisher (Leia Organa), Adam Driver (Kylo Ren), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Oscar Isaac (Poe Dameron), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz Kanata), Domhnall Gleeson (General Hux), Anthony Daniels (C-3PO), Gwendoline Christie (Captain Phasma), Billie Lourd (Lieutenant Connix), Andy Serkis (Supreme Leader Snoke), Peter Mayhew and Joonas Suotamo (Chewbacca), Tim Rose (Admiral Ackbar), Mike Quinn (Nien Nunb) and Warwick Davis joined by new additions Jimmy Vee (Pan) as R2-D2, Kelly Marie Tran (Ladies Like Us) as Rose, Benicio Del Toro (Guardians of the Galaxy) as DJ and Laura Dern (Jurassic Park).
