Star Wars: The Last Jedi might have been a critical and commercial success for Lucasfilm, however, the studio's follow-up to Star Wars: The Force Awakens also became one of the most divisive entries in the franchise, sparking ire from more traditional Star Wars fans.
Sure, the film might have helped take the franchise to a new direction, however, some fans were outraged by how the film subverted fan expectations and how it "misused" legacy characters like Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and Leia (the late Carrie Fisher).
Despite the film's controversy, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson insists that he didn't really set out to change Star Wars canon when he made the film.
Speaking in an interview with Digital Spy, Johnson tries to explain what he was trying to achieve in Episode IX.
"You're thinking very much about how [the movie] sits next to everything," he said. "That's the whole thing with the entire [Star Wars] saga is the way that the movies reflect themselves and the way that the patterns repeat and don't quite repeat. Especially with the characters."
Traditional Star Wars fans might have disliked how Luke Skywalker was turned into a jaded old hermit hiding away in Ahch-To in The Last Jedi, however, Johnson reassures the fanbase that he took the character's development in the film rather seriously. After all, Luke Skywalker was Johnson's hero too.
Though Lucasfilm has yet to assign release dates to his upcoming trilogy, Johnson has a new set of Star Wars films on the way.
Are you excited to see Johnson returning to direct films in the galaxy far, far away? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below.
Lucasfilm's next entry, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, premieres December 20, 2019.
Read: J.J. Abrams Reveals the First Word Spoken in The Rise of Skywalker