Rian Johnson Has No Snoke Regrets from 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi'

While the latest film in the Star Wars saga has made more than a billion dollars at the box office and continues to rake in money, the movie has seen a mixed reaction from fans since it premiered in theaters.

One of the most common gripes some people have is what writer and director Rian Johnson chose to do with Snoke, who was positioned as an enigmatic new enemy in Star Wars: The Force Awakens, and promptly killed off in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. And though Johnson understands the complaints, he has no regrets.

Johnson spoke with /Film about the moment when Kylo Ren killed his master, revealing his thoughts on the decision now that he's had time to process fan reactions.

"A lot of things that ended up taking hold in the fan community in terms of who is Snoke, who are Rey's parents, and the fever pitch that those rose to, I obviously knew those were questions you had coming out of Force Awakens, but I didn't have the weight of the fan expectation of what the payoff of those questions would be," said Johnson. "Which I think was a good thing."

Johnson didn't go back and alter his script in response to the fan reactions to The Force Awakens, and right after the movie was release did his sequel go into production.

"I guess what I'm trying to say is, the timing of it was, it's not like I was aware of those expectations and was purposefully trying to poke people in the eye," Johnson added, "I was writing to my honest gut reactions to what the most powerful turn of events would be to those questions."

Regardless of Johnson's comments, it's unlikely that fans are going to be quick to change their mind. Much like when The Empire Strikes Back was released, many viewers responded negatively — and it has now become one of the highest regarded Star Wars movies among the fandom. Time will tell where The Last Jedi ranks among the rest of the saga.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is now playing in theaters.