Rian Johnson received a lot of flack for some of his controversial decisions in
Star Wars: The Last Jedi, but his bold direction with some of the universe's traditional rules was part of the reason Lucasfilm tapped the filmmaker to create a brand new trilogy of films set in a galaxy far, far away. Unlike
The Last Jedi, Johnson won't be constricted by the "The Skywalker Saga" or having to appease to fans of all the original characters. Rian Johnson recently spoke to IGN about his approach with this new trilogy.
"We're just at the very beginning of figuring out what this new thing is going to be," he explained, "but part of the excitement of it is really trying to hone in on 'what is Star Wars?' What was Star Wars for me the very first time I saw it when I was a little kid? What are the combination of elements that just made me want to jump into the screen, and made me want to go home and instantly start telling my own stories?"
It's certainly an interesting question to ask, what is Star Wars without its most recognizable elements.
He continued:
"Once you get past the things that are the iconography of Star Wars - once you say, okay, if it doesn't have the Falcon; if it doesn't have someone with Skywalker as their last name; if we don't go to Tatooine, what is it? What is it at its essence? It's a really exciting question, and I think it's something that has to be answered at some point. So let's figure it out."
In a separate interview with IGN, Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) - who has previously been outspoken about the direction Johnson took his character in
The Last Jedi - also weighed in on what the potential for a
Star Wars trilogy separate from the Skywalker Saga.
"I think the potential for all the new incarnations is they can have their own identity," said Hamill. "You can have Rogue One be that gritty war movie, and Han Solo he's a rogue, and a womanizer, and a gambler - there's a much more comedic feel to [his film]. That's what I'm hoping - especially since they're standalone films, they don't have to follow the structure of a three-act play, they can be as diverse as possible within the Star Wars universe."
Hamill emphasized that one of the things he hopes isn't lost in the new trilogy is the franchise's signature humor.
"That's the challenge," he acknowledged. "You want to have all the elements that identify them as Star Wars films, with the action and the special effects and the characters and the humor - I hope they don't lose the humor, although Rogue One was obviously pretty serious. But have the things that people want in a Star Wars film, but then push the envelope as best you can and make as many different kinds of movies as you can."
No release dates have been set for Johnson's new trilogy of Star Wars films. In the meantime, we have Solo: A Star Wars Story flying into theaters next month on May 25.