Brilliantly enjoyable though it was, Star Wars: The Force Awakens essentially just served as a correction to the prequel trilogy, reassuring fans that Disney had heard their cries about tone and feel and only setting out the bare bones of a new plot.

With this throat clearing out the way however, the stage is set for Looper director Rian Johnson to go wherever the hell he wants to with episodes 8 and 9 (it’s a big show of confidence that he’s been hired to write the screenplay for both).

Long-serving Star Wars screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, who returned for The Force Awakens, is very excited for the new direction he expects Johnson to head in.

“These movies will all be so different,” he told The LA Times earlier this month, ["Episode VIII" director] Rian Johnson is a friend of mine — he's going to make some weird thing.

Episode VIII writer/director and Episode IX writer Rian Johnson (Picture: Getty)

“If you've seen Rian's work, you know it's not going be like anything that's ever been in Star Wars. “You couldn't have three more different people than J.J., Rian and Colin [Trevorrow, Episode IX director].”

Johnson was also the man behind cult hit Brick - you can read more about him and his tastes here.

Filling the gaps between each instalment of the sequel trilogy, there will a series of anthology films starting with Death Star heist action movie Rogue One.

Expectation will be highest for the Han Solo prequel, which is expected to arrive in 2018.

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“Those movies will have the Star Wars saga as their basis, but everything else will be different,” Kasdan said. “Then Phil Lord and Chris Miller are going to make the Han Solo film and I can't guess what that will be like — and I'm writing it!”

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer