While many Star Wars fans hope to see Rian Johnson revisit a galaxy far, far away, fear is not a factor in taking on another chapter.
Following Kathleen Kennedy‘s Lucasfilm exit interview with Deadline, in which she explained that “he got spooked” from returning to the franchise, Johnson denied that was what held him back after directing Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi (2017), the penultimate in the Skywalker trilogy.
“Lol zero spooked, sorry,” wrote Johnson on X.
Kennedy, who has handed the reins over to Dave Filoni and Lynwen Brennan, recently spoke to Deadline about the possibility of Johnson returning after The Last Jedi grossed $1.3B globally for Disney.
“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,” she noted. “That’s the other thing that happens here. After Shawn [Levy] 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.”
Meanwhile, Levy recently wrapped filming on his highly-anticipated Star Wars: Starfighter with Ryan Gosling in the cockpit.
Kennedy added of Johnson, “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 actors say to me, ‘What’s going to happen?’ They’re a little scared.”
With Star Wars: Starfighter scheduled to hit theaters on May 28, 2027, Johnson’s Wake Up Dead Man: A Knives Out Mystery is currently available to stream on Netflix, and he’s currently conceiving the fourth film in the franchise.