Star Wars: Rian Johnson Admits He Hasn't Read Anything From The Expanded Universe

With a franchise as big as Star Wars, a lot of fans always want to know if the directors of the films they're watching are just as big of fans as they are. Rian Johnson has been given the greenlight by Lucasfilm to make his own Star Wars trilogy, and he admits that he isn't that deep into the expanded universe as some fans might want.

Talking to Bad Taste, Johnson explains:

"The thing is when I was growing up, I knew the films, I played the Knights of the Old Republic video game, I never really read the novels or the comic books, and so I don't have a lot of that in my head."

I think it's probably a good thing I don't have all those stories in my head because I wanna be able to just start fresh. I don't wanna be worried about ‘am I copying this, am I copying that, should I pull from this, should I pull from that,' I kind of want to come up with a new story, that's what's exciting to me, so I'm gonna start from there I think."

With Johnson's emphasis on wanting to go where the Star Wars hasn't gone before, it would make sense for him to go into a blank slate for his new set of movies. The thing is, maybe he should also check in on Legends just in case he doesn't want to repeat anything.

Ever since Disney had debunked the Star Wars expanded universe to rebuild a new canon, a lot of characters from Legends have found their way trickling down to the actual story. One good example would be Grand Admiral Thrawn, who has become a major villain for the Star Wars Rebels series.

Though we don't know where Johnson's trilogy goes, Lucasfilm has a lot of confidence with what he wants to bring to the table. After all, Star Wars: The Last Jedi has been getting sparkling reviews, and it's all thanks to the work of Johnson and his team.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi hits theaters Dec. 15.

See Also: Rian Johnson Made His New Trilogy Pitch So He Can Keep Working With Lucasfilm And Disney