Consequently, the comments made by Johnson – who also co-wrote The Last Jedi script – reveal a modus operandi to reject the typical job description for a director who tasked by the Disney corporate monolith to perfunctorily tick boxes of conventional expectations for its venerable franchise, instead opting for the element of surprise, which, for him, was what made Star Wars resonate with him as a child, further explaining, “I want to be shocked, I want to be surprised, I want to be thrown off-guard, I want to have things recontextualized, I want to be challenged as a fan when I sit down in the theater.”

Indeed, when it comes to surprises, Johnson points to 1980 Original Trilogy middle act The Empire Strikes Back, which, helmed by a similarly-positioned pinch-director in Irvin Kershner, remains frequently-cited as the best of the entire franchise. Johnson implies that it was his desire to create a similar experience of subverted expectations (the unassuming powerful nature of Yoda, the “I am your father” twist, Lando’s betrayal and redemption, etc.,) that are “emotionally resonant” and feel like they connect, getting to “the heart of what this thing is in a way that I never could see coming.”

Further Reading: Star Wars: Leia Was Originally a Jedi in The Rise of Skywalker

While there are certainly valid arguments to be made in questioning the effectiveness of The Last Jedi’s plot twists, and if enough work was done to create the kind of emotional investment to generate Empire-like poignancy, Johnson’s comments may, in the very least, mitigate the branded reputation that he still holds as some kind of anarchic bull in the franchise china shop. Yet, the arrival of the follow-up, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, seems to be on its way to becoming just as (if not more) divisive than Johnson’s film, with advance reviews manifesting as a panorama of polarization. However, history will eventually have the ultimate say on the Disney-conjured Star Wars Sequel Trilogy – and Johnson’s middle act – which, removed from the myopic immediacy of social media and politics, might end up faring better in the eyes of posterity, just as the once universally-maligned Prequel Trilogy has – at least to a certain extent.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters (tomorrow) on December 20.