Rian Johnson gave quite the extensive interview to the official Star Wars website ahead of The Last Jedi, and here are three things to take away.
Somehow, some way, Rian Johnson managed to talk about Star Wars: The Last Jedi quite a bit without giving anything away to StarWars.com, or at least not giving anything away that subsequently got published.
However, that does not mean that there aren’t tidbits that aren’t absolutely fascinating from this long, detailed interview. But, for those looking to get the short and sweet bullet points of this interview, here are three key things Johnson had to say.
The new trilogy came together naturally
For all Lucasfilm’s dropping directors this year, it looks like Johnson had a particularly easy time working within the company’s parameters — easy enough that his pitch of a new trilogy sprung out of, according to him, a desire to “keep working together” with everyone.
This is oddly reassuring, just because it all sounds surprisingly organic. While it’s possible that this is a PR-approved version of the actual story, it has at least one grain of truth in it, and that’s calming.
“Rey is our surrogate”
Speaking in the context of Luke Skywalker’s story in the film, Johnson says:
"Rey is our surrogate. So it made sense to shape him, in some ways, in relation to what would work best with her."
Those four words mean something huge. Rey is the person we’re meant to identify with — she is our default in her side of the story. Johnson does point out that Finn also has a major arc in this movie as well, so our defaults are Rey and Finn, and, while it’s been a long time coming, it’s still utterly delightful.
And to hear that Luke’s story was, in some part, dictated by Rey’s, instead of the other way around? That sounds like a way to reassure fans that the movie won’t be entirely dedicated to the old characters (although Johnson does also talk about how Carrie Fisher’s performance as Leia is “really beautiful,” too, so it’s balanced).
The color scheme of Snoke is totally on purpose
Supreme Leader Snoke apparently wears the space equivalent of gold lamé, and that’s both not a sentence I thought I’d write back in 2015 in the wake of The Force Awakens as well as something that Johnson intentionally chose.
“[Snoke] would have looked fine in just black robes,” he says, right after giving the reason for picking the gold as adding a “sense of theatricality” to the character. Considering the performance General Hux gives in The Force Awakens, is it any surprise that Snoke has a flair for the dramatic of his own?
More power to him, basically. When you’re the leader of the First Order, it’s probably not wise to question him, even when he’s wearing something a little ridiculous.
Next: 15 things you need to know about Star Wars: The Last Jedi
What can’t you wait to find out from The Last Jedi?