Back when Star Wars: The Last Jedi premiered, it was announced that director Rian Johnson would get to develop his own trilogy. After some backlash from ‘fans' and the retcon of TLJ by The Rise of Skywalker, a lot of people were thinking that Johnson had been dropped from Star Wars, but some interesting piece of news could suggest that he's back.
Talking to Collider, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron director Patty Jenkins had revealed that she had been developing the movie with a secret screenwriter. When asked on who this writer was, Jenkins said, "I want him to have his own proper announcement, so I'm going to wait until that comes out."
It's very curious as to why Jenkins' co-writer is keeping his identity secret–unless an early reveal would provide a lot of unwanted attention. Though The Last Jedi was critically praised, the more toxic side of the Star Wars fandom has been whining about ‘Ruin Johnson' non-stop for years. What are the odds that Johnson is involved, but Lucasfilm just decided to keep quiet about his involvement, so that these ‘fans' won't have a chance to hate on the film before its release?
I have to say, it's a stretch, but what other reason would the co-writer have to keep his identity secret? Even Taika Waititi has been announced for a Star Wars film and we have no idea what's coming in that movie.
As someone who loved The Last Jedi, The Rise of Skywalker was a real gut-punch. Johnson had set up the franchise to be something we've never seen before, yet TROS just shamelessly brought back an old villain and relied too heavily on nostalgia—resulting in something that both sides of the fandom didn't like.
Hopefully, with Rogue Squadron, we can usher in a new era of films that stays true to the core concept of Star Wars, rather than just pander to the worst part of the fandom.
So did Johnson helped write this film? We'll just have to wait and see until the reveal. In the meantime, Rogue Squadron is set to come out on December 22, 2023. Catch Jenkins' Wonder Woman 1984 on HBO Max and select theaters on Dec. 25.
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