Cognition Dissemination: Somehow, The Last Jedi Discourse Returned

There was, once upon a time, speculation that Star Wars: The Last Jedi would be judged harshly when looking back on it after a number of years. The movie was the second in what’s since been dubbed the “Sequel Trilogy” of Star Wars films, and achieved legendary status making a number of gutsy storyline decisions that became controversial among the franchise’s fanbase. Movies that generate any kind of controversy will inevitably receive numerous retrospectives, this one in particular regarding whether it made all the right decisions as a sequel to predecessor The Force Awakens, and for the overarching Star Wars storyline.

The source of one such retrospective? Director Rian Johnson himself, though not unprompted. Empire Magazine had the chance to interview Johnson as part of a preview for the promotional campaign for the upcoming Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery. The interviewer had to ask him about The Last Jedi, with the quickly-impending fifth anniversary. In one excerpt posted online, Johnson said that he’s “even more proud of it five years on.” He continued by saying that “I think it’s impossible for any of us to approach Star Wars without thinking about it as a myth that we were raised with, and how that myth, that story, baked itself into us and affected us.” “The ultimate intent was not to strip away – the intent was to get to the basic, fundamental power of myth. And ultimately I hope the film is an affirmation of the power of the myth of Star Wars in our lives,” he said.

He’s right, and he should be proud of the stunning achievement in creativity and cinematography (the latter spearheaded by frequent partner Steve Yedlin) he and the production team created, even if it shined a light on uncomfortable inner-franchise myths that several too-dedicated fans didn’t want to tackle. The film questions whether the all-powerful Jedi are the ultimate force for good as legends have stated, the lesson a disillusioned Luke Skywalker, the Original Trilogy’s hero, tries to harshly impart to Sequel Trilogy heroine Rey. He also dies at the end to the character his disillusion largely originated from.

Let’s be honest about something else here, though. There was no shortage of toxic fans who didn’t like this movie because of the extent to which it put two women in the spotlight, as Rose Tico actress Kelly Marie Tran found out when the internet’s worst people drove her off social media. The storyline choices and diverse cast helped this movie become one of the first entertainment-based culture war lightning rods outside of video games and the Gamergate movement. Culture wars in entertainment have only become more frequent and deafening since then, the most recent recipient being the soon-to-air The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power, which — surprise — has a considerably more diverse cast compared to previous Middle-earth adaptations. It’s like there’s something in common here.

I won’t sit here and say that the film is perfect (Finn’s character derailment started here, and Captain Phasma never got an arc), or that all critics should be put in the same poisonous basket. But it’s still great in my mind, perhaps it’s too great for a Star Wars film given what passes for acceptable scriptwriting in the series’ history. The movie’s quality was a surprise, to be sure, but a welcome one.

It’s also no surprise that TLJ is being looked back upon fondly thanks to the film that followed it: The Rise of Skywalker, the final movie in the Sequel Trilogy. TROS was a poor conclusion, a film that tried its damnedest to wipe away the “mistakes” its predecessor made by deconstructing the franchise’s biggest myths while also significantly derailing the character arcs of everyone not named “Rey” or “Kylo Ren,” or “Lando Calrissian” to a lesser extent.

This is notably the first time Johnson has had the chance to comment on TLJ and Star Wars as a whole in years, outside of his occasional addresses on social media. This can partially be pinned on the pandemic, which made it harder for journalists and some fans to secure interviews with movie stars and especially their creators, though society is now pretending that COVID-19 is largely over. The advertising campaign for Glass Onion, the fittingly-named sequel to superlative mystery film Knives Out, is only just beginning. There’s plenty of time before the movie’s December 23rd release on Netflix and select theaters, so there should be more opportunities to chat with him.

It was previously announced that Johnson would be directing a Star Wars trilogy of his own sometime after TLJ, which Johnson fortunately confirmed has not been cancelled despite toxic fans insisting otherwise.  “I’ve stayed close to Kathleen [Kennedy] and we get together often and talk about it,” Johnson said, again to Empire. “It’s just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen.” In addition to Glass Onion, Johnson has been busy working on the Poker Face TV show for Peacock while also planning a third Knives Out film for Netflix. He can begin work on more Star Wars content after those are finished, but that may not happen until 2025 at the earliest for a release in 2027. That’s a long time from now.

There were reports that executives at Disney and Lucasfilm seriously enjoyed TLJ, a possible positive foreboding that both parties are willing to wait until Johnson is finished with his other priorities before starting this. I immensely enjoyed TLJ, as mentioned throughout this post, but there’s serious potential for Johnson’s trilogy to put it to shame quality-wise since it won’t need to be sandwiched in the middle of two J.J. Abrams works. If this trilogy doesn’t happen, it will be certifiable proof that we live in a fallen world. I say that as someone also looking forward to the future Knives Out films and Poker Face.

Time will tell what happens from here. Disney and Lucasfilm can afford to keep this on considering the sheer number of other Star Wars content they’ll provide in the meantime that will be of, and I’m crossing my fingers here, hopefully-good quality. I’ll cross the fingers on my other hand in the hopes that nothing too inane will happen with the franchise’s handling in the near future.