Since the release of The Last Jedi, there’s been a strong divide amongst the Star Wars fandom between those that loved the movie and those that thought it ruined the franchise, or at least didn’t like it. It’s been clear, though, that this is just a war raging on the fan side of things and Episode IX’s J.J. Abrams has the utmost respect for what director Rian Johnson did – and vice versa. Case in point: Johnson’s reaction to today’s Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker trailer.
The filmmaker didn’t hold back when praising the teaser on Twitter this afternoon. “I LOVE EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS,” Johnson tweeted, “an I just melted back into being a happy kid. If you need me I’ll be spending the rest of the day smiling dreamily.” I think there’s a good many fans out there feeling the same way, Rian.
There’s been a lot of talk in the run-up to Episode IX about the movie possibly retconning certain developments from TLJ, not least Kylo Ren’s claim that Rey’s parents were nobodies. Johnson himself has said he fully supports whatever Abrams feels he needs to do to make his movie, including retconning his own one. After all, he did that to Abrams in the first place, reshooting the scene where Rey finds Luke to make the Jedi seem more crabby and disheveled.
It’s a good thing he doesn’t mind, too, as the Rise of Skywalker trailer definitely left the door open for a possible twist when it comes to Rey’s heritage. The title itself has got people thinking – yet again – that Daisy Ridley’s character could be a secret Skywalker while the teaser also brought back Mark Hamill’s Luke, though this probably doesn’t mean that Abrams has gone so far as to resurrect him after his death.
But like Johnson says, we can surely all agree that the preview has us super-hyped for when Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker lands in theaters on December 20th. With any luck, the fandom will unite over how awesome it is.
