Why Rian Johnson's Star Wars Trilogy Never Happened, According To Kathleen Kennedy

The news we all anticipated has finally become official. Kathleen Kennedy has formally begun the process of stepping down as President of Lucasfilm, and she's now ready to look back at her handling of the "Star Wars" brand throughout the last decade and change. Handpicked by George Lucas himself to take over, the producer extraordinaire sought to bring a filmmaker's touch to the storied franchise ... though that didn't always work out as planned. Many learned this the hard way, like when Phil Lord and Chris Miller were booted from the "Solo: A Star Wars Story" production or Colin Trevorrow and writer Derek Connolly experienced much the same on what eventually became "Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker."

But "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson and his fabled trilogy of original movies were always the ones that got away. Announced before "Episode VIII" even hit theaters, the project has remained on the back-burner ever since. As far as official explanations go, Johnson has indicated that his "Knives Out" films simply took precedence. As far as fans are concerned, though, the consensus opinion points the blame at the intense online reaction to "The Last Jedi" (though Johnson himself has disputed this). Will the real answer please stand up?

Kennedy's now weighing in, though her theory won't surprise you. While speaking to Deadline, she added her two cents to the conversation. After acknowledging the "Knives Out" of it all, she pinpointed the obvious:

"And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best 'Star Wars' movies. He's a brilliant filmmaker and he got spooked. This is the rough part. When people come into this space, I have every filmmaker and actors say to me, 'What's going to happen?' They're a little scared."

Welcome to the perils of franchise filmmaking in the 21st century. Copious amounts of internet ink have been spilled on the subject of toxic and entitled fandoms, which, combined with the easy access the internet provides, has metastasized into an environment where everyone has to tiptoe on eggshells or risk incurring the wrath of the online hordes. Of course, the source of that vitriol has traditionally targeted certain demographics more than others — namely, women and people of color like John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Kelly Marie Tran. It's became such an issue that Kathleen Kennedy has even addressed this directly with many a potential talent.

"I'm honest, especially with the women that come into this space because they unfairly get targeted," Kennedy explained. "I don't try to sugarcoat it. And I emphasize that it's a very small group of people, with loud megaphones. I truly do not believe that it's the majority of the fans. And I think we're also in this weird world of where bots can affect things. You have to develop a tough skin."

Indeed, those with good memories may recall the role that bots played in the "Last Jedi" backlash specifically. Kennedy continued:

"All we can do is put our heads down and do the work and believe that we're doing the best we can, telling the best story we can. And if somebody gets really nervous about it and doesn't want to do it, I say, 'Then don't do it because I can't tell you this [backlash] won't happen.'"

Bleak stuff. Time will be kind to Kennedy's legacy, but there's no denying that Lucasfilm and Disney could've done more to protect their talent. Here's hoping successors Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan do better.