Rian Johnson Says ‘Star Wars: The Last Jedi’ Reaction Necessary For Franchise To “Grow” & “Stay Vital”

**SPOILERS AHEAD**

Perhaps the most remarkable thing that Rian Johnson has accomplished with “Star Wars: The Last Jedi,” is that he has gotten fans to talk about the series in a way that they haven’t for decades. For seven films now, we’ve lived with the Skywalker saga and an increasingly familiar mythology about The Force, and the eternal battle between the Rebellion and fascistic orders who want to run the galaxy.

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With ‘The Last Jedi,’ Johnson changed everything fans were comfortable with in the series. The writer and director literally burned down the Jedi temple, Luke Skywalker dies, The Force is as much a gift as a burden, and for extended portions of the film’s running time, the Rebellion is on the precipice of disaster. Even Rey, the franchise’s new hero, peeks into the dark side of her nature. It’s wonderfully complex stuff, bringing new dimension and possibilities to the series.

However, those new paths carved by Johnson have upset the apple cart with some fans who feel betrayed or bewildered by seeing the saga effectively blown up. However, the filmmaker feels that whether it was spurred by ‘The Last Jedi’ or another movie in the series, the discussions around “Star Wars” are exactly what the franchise needs:

https://twitter.com/rianjohnson/status/943930384852574208

Johnson is absolutely correct that creatively, “Star Wars” needs to find new ways to explore the central ideas at its core. Commercially speaking, it only benefits Lucasfilm and Disney to bring something new to the table, especially for a franchise that has already has decades of history attached to it.

The conversation around ‘The Last Jedi’ won’t stop anytime soon, and it’ll be interesting to see if what Johnson has done holds up on subsequent viewings.