Rian Johnson Threw Out J.J. Abrams' Star Wars Plans for The Last Jedi

The sequel trilogy has been criticized ad nauseam for having no plan, but that is simply not true. Well, maybe partially true. There was no plan before The Force Awakens was written, especially concerning who Rey was. But once that film was finished, J.J. Abrams was asked to write treatments for episodes 8 and 9, and he actually did it.

When episode 8 director Rian Johnson read those treatments, he decided to ignore them completely. I think that was probably because they were not very good and were likely thrown together at the last minute. Instead, Rian wanted to address one of the main criticisms of the previous film, that it was just a carbon copy of A New Hope, a complaint even George Lucas himself agreed with after seeing it, saying it did nothing new. As a result, Rian set out to subvert our expectations and give us something new.

J.J. Abrams Had Built a Set of Mystery Boxes Before Rian Johnson Took Over

Going into The Last Jedi, J.J. Abrams had carefully set up a very specific set of mystery boxes. Rey was heavily rumored to be the secret offspring of a legacy character. Snoke was introduced as a mysterious shadowy puppet master, clearly positioned to be the sequel trilogy's Emperor Palpatine. And Rey had just handed the lightsaber to a legendary Jedi master on a completely desolate planet, leaving all of us wondering why he was even there.

Basically, all the pieces were on board for a familiar, traditional sequel. But instead, Rian took those pieces and tossed them over his shoulder, literally.

How Rian Johnson Subverted Those Setups

Rather than delivering a massive I am your father style lineage reveal, Johnson made Rey an absolute nobody. Instead of fleshing out Snoke's backstory, he unceremoniously sliced him in half before we ever learned anything about him.

And instead of a wise, willing mentor like Yoda, Luke Skywalker was written as a bitter, cynical hermit who flat out refused to train her. When he finally, reluctantly agreed, the lessons were so brief and antagonistic that Rey angrily abandoned him as he insisted that the Jedi must end.

Expectations successfully subverted.

Do you think Rian Johnson was right to throw out J.J. Abrams' plans for the sequel trilogy?