How Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson Really Felt About The Rise Of Skywalker

There's nothing the internet loves more than good ol' fashioned drama, and very few franchises over the last decade or so (with the possible exception of Zack Snyder's now-defunct DCEU) have delivered more of that than "Star Wars." You can probably see where I'm going with this. When "The Last Jedi" hit theaters back in 2017, online reactions could generously be described as mixed. Real ones recognized what writer/director Rian Johnson was trying to do with the sequel film, wrapping an emotionally complex story about legacy and the weight of the past around a love letter to the overall franchise. To others, well, the blockbuster went against their expectations to such an extent that it felt like a total aberration compared to "The Force Awakens" ... until "The Rise of Skywalker" hit just two years later, at least.

Given the many, ah, curious decisions made in the grand finale to the Skywalker Saga, it was fair to wonder whether returning director J.J. Abrams was one of those jilted fans who felt like a course correction was very much in order. That would certainly explain several abrupt reversals like the villainous Snoke (Andy Serkis) and his retcon as a clone (?), the idea that his entire master plan was apparently Palpatine all along (??), and particularly the idea of walking back Rey (Daisy Ridley) from a "nobody" to the reveal that she was actually the granddaughter of the evil Emperor (???) of the galaxy. Wild stuff.

Many of us wondered what Johnson himself made of all those changes and whether he interpreted them as a slight to his own movie, but he's finally addressed the Wampa in the room. Those looking for even more juicy drama, however, will need to look elsewhere. Refreshingly, Johnson has nothing but kind things to say about his experience watching "The Rise of Skywalker."

Hmm, if only there was a nice and pithy quote about letting the past die that could apply to this very situation. While the loudest voices in fandom haven't quite managed to get over "The Last Jedi," director Rian Johnson has a much healthier perspective all these years later. The filmmaker has since gone on to turn "Knives Out" into an incredibly successful and original franchise of his own, while in the streaming space he's carved out a niche with "Poker Face." With season 2 of his murder-mystery series coming to a recent close, Rian Johnson sat down for an interview with TV critic Alan Sepinwall of Rolling Stone to discuss a wide range of topics from his career — including the "Star Wars" of it all.

Asked specifically about how he felt watching a sequel with several sequences that involve "undoing" certain moments in his own film, such as the Rey Palpatine reveal, Johnson had a typically measured response:

"When I saw ['The Rise of Skywalker'], I had a great time watching it. Again, this is all about point of view. I never approach this as, like, a territory I'm carving out for my thing. In my perspective, J.J. [Abrams] did the same thing with the third that I did with the second, which is not digging it up and undoing — just telling the story the way that was most compelling going forward. That means not just validating what came before, but recontextualizing it and evolving and changing as the story moves forward. I didn't feel resentful in some way. But you're talking about a movie made by my friends, with my friends in it. I sit down to watch a movie, and it's a 'Star Wars' movie. It's all stuff I love. I'm not the one to come to for a hard-hitting critique. You can go to YouTube for that."

In an era where a public warring of words feels like the rule rather than the exception, you simply have to appreciate whenever someone takes the high road. Despite the narrative that Abrams and Johnson were fundamentally at odds with one another, it appears the truth is much less sensational than that. Be sure to check out the full Rolling Stone interview. In the meantime, both seasons of "Poker Face" are streaming on Peacock.