We're nearing Star Wars: The Last Jedi's five-year anniversary, and it remains one of the most divisive stories ever told in that Galaxy Far, Far Away.
Rian Johnson's approach to Luke Skywalker remains the biggest issue for many fans (including Mark Hamill), though the character finding redemption in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett has definitely helped matters.
While Johnson still hopes to return to Lucasfilm for a new trilogy of Star Wars movies, he's currently busy further expanding the Knives Out franchise for Netflix. Glass Onion is set to be released next month, and doing the rounds to promote the movie, the filmmaker reflected on the biggest frustration he has about his time working on Star Wars during an interview with The New Yorker.
Rather than anything specifically to do with the writing and directing process, or even the backlash aimed at his creative decisions, what bothers Johnson most is people thinking he had a bad experience making The Last Jedi!
"I think I love Star Wars even more now. I think what actually frustrates me is people’s perception that I had a negative experience somehow, or people’s perception that it was somehow a traumatic experience, or something," Johnson explains. "The reality is that it was a completely joyful experience even through the back end of it, the past few years, the reception of it."
"And, when I read what those people were actually saying, I was, like, 'Oh, I completely disagree with this.' They’re wrong. For me. Everybody can like whatever they want and not like what they want," he continued. "And Star Wars fans, in particular - growing up as one, arguing about other people’s opinions being wrong is sort of the bread and butter of it all."
"I didn’t feel crushed. Like, 'Oh, no, I didn’t make a real Star Wars movie.' I felt, like, 'No, I did.'"
In other words, Johnson made the Star Wars movie that he wanted and is happy with the result. Episode IX was a critical hit, and there are many people out there who loved the way the filmmaker subverted expectations. However, the decisions made will likely continue to stir debate, though it was the story Lucasfilm decided to go with, for better or worse.
How do you look back at Star Wars: The Last Jedi?