Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson gives his verdict on The Rise of Skywalker

(Image credit: Disney)

Remember the days when Star Wars: The Last Jedi was the most controversial Star Wars movie? Me neither. The controversy around Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker has been so all-consuming in the fandom that the drama around The Last Jedi feels a long, long time ago in a galaxy far, far, far, far, far away. 

One of the main points of contention among Star Wars fans was The Rise of Skywalker seemingly undoing certain story beats established in The Last Jedi – namely that Rey was not actually a nobody, but instead Palpatine's grandaughter. 

Yet, while that may be the case, The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has only spoken positively about Episode 9. Asked for his opinion on The Rise of Skywalker while attending the Oscars, Johnson told MTV:  "I had a blast, man. Made me so proud seeing the heart and soul that J.J. [Abrams] put into it.

"And seeing my friends who were in the movie just, like, bring the whole thing to a conclusion. Yeah, for me as a Star Warfan, it was a really special experience."

So there you have it, no hard feelings between Johnson and Abrams. In other Star Wars news, Kelly Marie Tran has revealed her thoughts on her character's minimal screentime in Abrams' movie, saying: “When you’re in something of that calibre, there’s always people working to make something out of love, and no matter what you do, there’s always going to be people who aren’t happy with that.”

Fancy rewatching the Star Wars movies? Here's how to watch the Star Wars movies in order and here's the Star Wars timeline to help you out.

Jack Shepherd
Freelance Journalist

Jack Shepherd is the former Senior Entertainment Editor of GamesRadar. Jack used to work at The Independent as a general culture writer before specializing in TV and film for the likes of GR+, Total Film, SFX, and others. You can now find Jack working as a freelance journalist and editor.

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