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Rian Johnson on What He Hopes for in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker


Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker might be the direct sequel to Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but Episode VIII director Rian Johnson doesn't really think that J.J. Abrams needs to draw inspiration from him.

Speaking in a recent interview with Slash Film, Johnson responds to Abrams previous discussion about how The Last Jedi influenced his film with Cinema Blend. The director for The Rise of Skywalker admitted that Johnson's choices in The Last Jedi had strengthened the paths that he's making in the new Star Wars film, admitting that he found Episode IX to be surprising and entertaining at the same time.

"That was so incredibly kind of J.J. to say that. I don't think J.J. needs any inspiration from me," Johnson responded, "I think he's an incredible storyteller who I knew from the instant that I knew that he was doing [Episode] IX that he was going to figure out a way that was going to both surprise all of us and satisfy us deeply at the end of the saga."

There's a whole lot of excitement building up over The Rise of Skywalker. Not only is the movie going to close the curtain on Lucasfilm's sequel trilogy, it's also going to serve as the culmination of the entire Skywalker saga.

The film also promises a lot of surprises. Fans have so many questions for the movie. While The Rise of Skywalker address Rey's (Daisy Ridley) origin? Will Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) find redemption in the film? How exactly will Emperor Palpatine return in Episode IX and will the movie finally be the end of Darth Sidious and the Empire?

Let's wait and see.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker premieres December 20, 2019.

Read: Daisy Ridley: You Wouldn't Believe How Rude Star Wars Fans Can Get

For more articles like this, take a look at our Star Wars: Episode IX page.