Star Wars: Rian Johnson Wouldn’t Mind JJ Abrams Retconning ‘The Last Jedi’ With ‘Episode IX’

In Star Wars: The Force Awakens, one of Rey’s motivating missions was to discover the identity of her parents who abandoned her on Jakku, with her Force abilities leading audiences to theorize her lineage. In Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Kylo Ren revealed to Rey that her parents were nobodies, reminding both the hero and audiences that anyone was capable of accomplishing amazing things, even without having historic heritage. Since this reveal in the film, fans have wondered if Star Wars: Episode IX will stick with Last Jedi writer/director Rian Johnson‘s narrative or if director JJ Abrams will retcon this reveal, but Johnson recently confirmed he’s so excited to watch the new film as a fan that he wouldn’t mind if the new film negates elements of his narrative.

“I’ve had a couple of conversations with [Abrams] but I’ve actually really enjoyed sitting back waiting to get my popcorn opening day and see how the thing turns out. I cannot wait,” Johnson shared with MTV News. When asked specifically how he would feel if Rey’s lineage was changed, Johnson shook his head, noting, “Like I said, I want to let go of all my expectations, I want to sit back, I want to be entertained. I want to be surprised. I want to be thrilled. I want him to do stuff that I wasn’t expecting him to do and just go along for the ride. For me, that’s why I go to the movies.”

The successful partnership between Johnson and Lucasfilm led to an announcement in 2017 that the filmmaker would craft an entire trilogy of Star Wars films, yet without hearing any updates about those projects, fans have wondered about their status.

“Still working on it. I’m excited about it,” Johnson admitted of his new films. “We’re just working ahead on it and they’re figuring out, slate-wise, how it’s all gonna lay out. They’re working that up, and I’m just chugging away on it, and I can’t wait to get back into it.”

Johnson isn’t the only one developing new Star Wars films, as Game of Thrones co-creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss are also developing their own series of films. When asked what he would like to most see from these films, from a narrative perspective, Johnson noted he’s more excited to be surprised by what they come up with.

“I’m psyched about all of it, but for me, I’m friends with [Benioff and Weiss] and, for example, to see two people like them just be given the reins to go out and show us what Star Wars is to them…you know what I mean?” Johnson confessed. “I don’t know, I’m also psyched about the things that are going to explore beyond what we’ve seen already. To me, that’s kind of the most exciting stuff is pushing the limits of seeing stuff that we haven’t seen before in Star Wars.”

Johnson’s next film, Knives Out, lands in theaters in November, while Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th.

What do you think about Johnson’s remarks? Let us know in the comments below or hit up @TheWolfman on Twitter to talk all things Star Wars and horror!

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