Was Colin Trevorrow Fired From Star Wars: Episode IX Because He Wanted Luke To Live?

The Star Wars world was left shaken last year when it was announced that director Colin Trevorrow had been fired from Episode IX. That catch-all term of “creative differences” was wheeled out as the excuse for why the relationship between Trevorrow and Lucasfilm was so untenable. However, we may now know the specific reason as to why the studio and the filmmaker just couldn’t work together.

Star Wars fan Mike Zeroh has posted a new video on YouTube in which he analyzes all the information we know about Trevorrow’s version of Episode IX and comes up with a pretty convincing reason as to why the director left the production. He claims that the big sticking point was the death of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi. As Zeroh has it, Trevorrow wanted to get the chance to play with the iconic hero in his movie, but Lucasfilm backed director Rian Johnson’s decision to kill the Jedi master off in Episode VIII.

“This is reasons why the original director Colin Trevorrow was let go because he wanted Luke to live into Episode 9 and also to have Snoke with a back story in The Last Jedi. The full reason why Johnson killed Luke is to free up space for the new characters… without any of the legacy characters pulling them backwards. He felt there would not be enough space for these characters with Luke Skywalker around. This is also what JJ Abrams wants and planned with Johnson for Episode 9.”

This isn’t the first time this idea has been discussed. Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamill, previously revealed that he’d talked with Trevorrow about where Luke could go next in Episode IX, which led fans to believe that the director was keen to keep the character alive in his film. Given that, we can see Zeroh’s reading of the situation being close to the truth.

That said, other rumours have reared their head that say that Trevorrow also proved difficult to work with. Specifically, sources claim that Lucasfilm execs found him “unbearable” and “egotistical.” Then again, cast member Andy Serkis has said that it was a very agreeable split between the two parties – so who knows?

Whatever the truth is, it’s all worked out for both the director and the studio. Lucasfilm brought The Force Awakens‘ J.J. Abrams back to finish off what he started, while Trevorrow returned to Amblin to helm Jurassic World 3. Star Wars: Episode IX, meanwhile, is set to arrive in cinemas on December 20th, 2019.