In a long-awaited transition, for better or worse, Kathleen Kennedy is handing over the keys to the Star Wars kingdom to super-fan-turned-creative Dave Filoni as Chief Creative Officer and Lynwen Brennan, who will be taking over the business side of things. But that transition didn’t come to fruition before she made a few strange comments about Rian Johnson and his potential Star Wars trilogy, as well as his reaction to the firestorm that The Last Jedi caused on the internet.
Sitting down with Deadline to speak about her departure, Kennedy was asked about a potential return to the Star Wars universe for Rian Johnson. She said, “Once he made the Netflix deal and went off to start doing the Knives Out films, that has occupied a huge amount of his time. That’s the other thing that happens here. After Shawn and I started talking about Star Wars, Stranger Things kicks in, and he was completely consumed for a while by that. That’s what happened with Rian.” She added, “And then I do believe he got spooked by the online negativity. I think Rian made one of the best Star Wars movies. He’s a brilliant filmmaker, and he got spooked. This is the rough part. When people come into this space, I have every filmmaker and actor say to me, “What’s going to happen?” They’re a little scared.”
Was Rian Johnson Spooked by Online Reactions?
In short, no. He responded to the quote on X, saying simply, “lol zero spooked, sorry.” It’s no secret that Johnson’s The Last Jedi was a controversial film, with certain fans frothing with hate over it, and other fans thinking it was the one film that had the same heart and gumption as the original trilogy. The comments under Johnson’s tweet were, predictably, a cesspool of fans arguing over who, exactly, murdered the Star Wars IP, with one fan chiming in, “Don’t let the losers crybaby fanboys bother you, king. You the best director to ever touch a Star Wars movie.”
It’s also no secret that Johnson was deliberate in his choice to “shake the box” with his Star Wars film. Speaking to Polygon last month, he said about The Last Jedi, “I was hoping for that — I wasn’t afraid of it per se. Having grown up a Star Wars fan, I know that thing where something challenges it, and I know the recoil against that. I know how there can be infighting in the world of Star Wars. But I also know that the worst sin is to handle it with kid gloves.” He continued, “The worst sin is to be afraid of doing anything that shakes it up. Because every Star Wars movie going back to Empire and onward shook the box and rattled fans, and got them angry, and got them fighting, and got them talking about it. And then for a lot of them, got them loving it and coming around on it eventually.”
What are your thoughts on Kathleen Kennedy’s comments about Rian Johnson? Let us know in the comments, and then check out the ComicBook forum to see what other fans have to say.