Adam Driver Clarifies Comments About Star Wars: Episode VIII

Being a top Hollywood actor is a hard thing. Whether it's press or interviews, stars have to watch what they say and always think twice about how sites will misconstrue a quote. Adam Driver experienced that for himself recently when one of his comments about Star Wars: Episode VIII blew up, and now, the actor is clarifying his words so the whole world can see.

Speaking with Vanity Fair, Driver alluded to a previous interview he did with Collider where he talked Star Wars. The actor described the shifting tone of Episode VIII, saying that the change was similar to how The Empire Strikes Back moved away from A New Hope. However, plenty of fans took the comments differently and believed Driver had admitted the new Star Wars film would be dark.

However, Driver stressed that's not what he was saying.

"No, no," he denied. "What I said was the tone of it was different, I didn't say that it was gonna be in the vein of [it]—I was using it as an example, so poor example."

"Next time I should say—I'm trying to think of another sequel to a movie that's good. When I read the script, it was not what I expected, in the best of ways."

In his previous interview, the actor had said Episode VIII is great and that "it's similar to how The Empire Strikes Back has a different tone."

"For that people always go "oooh, it's dark" but I don't know that it necessarily is. It's just different in tone in a way that I think is great and necessary but also very clear," he continued. "He trusts [that] his audience is ready for nuance and ambiguity. He's not dumbing anything down for someone and that's really fun to play."

So, clearly, Driver was indicating that Episode VIII won't necessarily have a darker aesthetic - just a different one.

For some fans, the promise of a new tone is just what they've been wanting to hear. There were moviegoers who criticized The Force Awakens for being too similar to A New Hope in terms of atmosphere and plotting. And, when you consider that The Empire Strikes Back is known as one of Hollywood's best sequels, then Driver's reference to the film is encouraging. If Episode VIII does to the new trilogy what The Empire Strikes Back did for the original, then there will be plenty of pleased fans out there.

Still, there is one actor who has said Episode VIII is darker than its predecessor. Oscar Isaac told Rolling Stone the film is a "dark second chapter, but not really dark." The paradoxical statement has sent fans for a loop, but the actor also said each of the film's heroes "get tested immensely." He evan confessed that poor BB-8 gets tested as well, but that is doing alright.

Star Wars: Episode VIII will hit theaters on December 15 2017.