Star Wars: ‘Rogue One’ Writer Addresses ‘The Last Jedi’ Backlash

While most Star Wars fans embraced The Last Jedi as a defining moment in the saga which set the bar high for the challenging directions the franchise could begin to explore, the film had some detractors who have spent a majority of their time online since the film’s release complaining about how they would have done things. Gary Whitta, who wrote Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and the comic book adaptation of The Last Jedi detailed how, while he might not have made all the same choices as writer/director Rian Johnson, he commended the accomplishments of the film.

“I think what you mean by that when you say ‘the fans’ is actually ‘a very noisy minority of fans,’” Whitta shared with JediNews about viewers who didn’t enjoy the film. “Look, I would not necessarily have made every choice that Rian made because I’m not the same person or writer or fan that he is, but I respect and admire and appreciate and support every choice he did make. The film he wrote is far braver and more mature and more challenging than I could ever have written.”

The writer noted, “I suspect that I would have written a more fan service-driven film that would have appeased some of that noisy minority but ultimately would have been a lesser and less important film because of it. Frankly, I’m disgusted by the treatment that Rian has received, he’s not just one of the most talented filmmakers working today but one of the nicest people you could ever hope to meet in any walk of life, and both he and the film he made deserve far better.”

In the months since the film’s release, former fans regularly offer Johnson “constructive criticism” about how things “should” have happened, though Whitta didn’t take any of those suggestions into account when crafting his adaptation.

“Nothing I did was in any way prompted by fan feedback; I made most of my big creative decisions on the adaptation and started writing before the film was even released,” the writer admitted. “My approach when writing is not to worry about what other people want to see but what I want to see, and then hope that my own instincts as a Star Wars fan are on-point enough that other fans agree with the choices I made. You’ll not only drive yourself crazy worrying about what the fans want, you’ll wind up telling an inferior story. So all of the editorial decisions I made were driven by things I wanted to see, but without upending any of Rian’s intent.”

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[H/T JediNews]