Well, here’s at least what Rian Johnson said out loud about the possibility that director J.J. Abrams could retcon or considerably alter big plot points from his movie The Last Jedi.
If the idea of Abrams going in a very different direction bothers Johnson, he’s traveling the diplomatic route in his recent CinemaCon interview. After all, he’s confirmed that he’s still at work on his other mysterious Star Wars trilogy for Disney; he’s not about to take issue with anything about Episode IV. And Johnson has always come across as a super-chill guy. He’s probably not upset at all about getting to hand the new trilogy reins back to Abrams after all the TLJ toxicity and just get to enjoy the twists and turns of Abrams’ movie himself.
Asked if he’d be upset if Abrams goes back on the assertion made in TLJ that Rey doesn’t descend from any legendary lineage but is the child of junk traders on Jakku, as reported by io9:
Johnson immediately shook his head and replied, “Like I said, man, I want to let go of all my expectations. I want to sit back. I want to be entertained. I want to be surprised. I want to be thrilled. I want him to do stuff I wasn’t expecting him to do and just go along for the ride.”
This is a great answer from Johnson. I’m not quite so sanguine about it: the revelation of Rey’s parentage was one of my favorite elements of The Last Jedi, a true surprise after years of speculation that she was a secret Skywalker/Kenobi/Palpatine/Solo/Take Your Boldname Pick. It was refreshing to break our heroine out of needing to come from storied heritage and let someone who came from “no one” rise due to talent and bravery. It’s also an excellent message to send out into space.
Things from The Last Jedi I would, however, be thrilled if Abrams retconned/decided to do: restore Captain Phasma, let her be a real character, and give Finn a proper final battle with her; give Finn something important to do and let him be with Rey again; zoom far, far away from Johnson’s arguable Reylo phase, and let Rey kick Kylo Ren into next week.
You can view Johnson’s full comments here:
.@rianjohnson is just as excited for J.J. Abram’s #StarWars Episode IX as we are, and he tells us at #CinemaCon he hopes that the directors keep taking the universe to new heights: “I want him to do stuff that I wasn’t expecting him to do” pic.twitter.com/D7Jh5SqgeT
— MTV NEWS (@MTVNEWS) April 5, 2019
What’re you hoping to see changed up in Episode IX, if anything?
(via io9, image: Disney/Lucasfilm)
- Check out this excerpt from Jezebel writer Anna Merlan’s new book Republic of Lies, about the conspiracy theories gripping America—from Pizzagate on back to satanic panic. (via Jezebel)
- This is why.
THIS IS WHAT ITS ALL ABOUT pic.twitter.com/Wh90Qy0ZZw
— mari 9 (@hemsthorth) April 5, 2019
- Google honors a physicist who fled Nazi Germany, Hedwig Kohn. (via Time)
- The mostly-mysterious X-Men movie The New Mutants is confirmed to have a theatrical release. (via IGN)
-
.@AOC: “I’m proud to be a bartender. Ain’t nothing wrong with that. There’s nothing wrong with working retail, folding clothes for other people to buy. There is nothing wrong with preparing the food that your neighbors will eat.” pic.twitter.com/4uveYJNqVj
— The Hill (@thehill) April 5, 2019
- Did you know we’re getting a JT Leroy movie starring Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern, a dramatization of “the most compelling literary ‘hoax’ of recent times”? We’re getting a JT Leroy movie starring Kristen Stewart and Laura Dern.
- Such a fun Friday fact!
Fun fact: the word “meritocracy” was coined in 1958 by a British politician/sociologist Michael Young, in a SATIRICAL essay called “The Rise of the Meritocracy,” something I learned in @ChrisLHayes‘ book Twilight of the Elites: https://t.co/RRY5A48dD7
— Alexis Goldstein (@alexisgoldstein) April 5, 2019
Congrats on the weekend, Mary Suevians! What did you see today?
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