Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has responded to a backlash over character deaths in last year’s movie.

The latest instalment of the main Star Wars franchise was released on December 14, 2017, and starred Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and more.

A fan tagged Johnson in a tweet in which he illustrated “the difference between” him and George Lucas with an old interview with the latter. Lucas is quoted as saying: “This is a fairy tale. You want everybody to live happily ever after and nothing bad happens to anybody.” He also said elsewhere that “you don’t want to kill Luke” because killing off characters “alienate[s] the audience.”


Johnson replied with screenshots of the deaths of characters from Lucas’ Star Wars movies, including Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda. The fan responded: “My main gripes are that you abandoned the spirit and heart of Star Wars in favour of your own ideas, opinions and mindset, rather than continuing a 40 year legacy. Skywalker and the rest of almost every thing in the film subverted all that was.”

The director disagreed with those comments saying he though The Last Jedi “100% distills what the spirit & heart of SW has been in my life. But yes it is personal, it’s a certain pov, and it has to be – originals were personal for GL, and that’s why they’re alive. SW films will truly betray the heart & spirit of the original if they lose that and become soulless clean homages.

For me TLJ 100% distills what the spirit & heart of SW has been in my life. But yes it is personal, it’s a certain pov, and it has to be – originals were personal for GL, that’s why they’re alive. SW films will truly betray the heart & spirit of the originals if they lose that, — Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 27, 2018


and become soulless clean homages. But being alive means being messy, and it means every film won’t line up exactly with what every fan is expecting or wants. I’m sorry TLJ didn’t line up with your own certain pov, really, honestly I am. MTFBWY — Rian Johnson (@rianjohnson) June 27, 2018

“But being alive means being messy, and it means every film won’t line up exactly with what every fan is expecting or wants. I’m sorry TLJ didn’t line up with your certain pov, really, honestly I am. MTFBWY”.

Meanwhile, it has been reported that Ewan McGregor is set to return as Obi-Wan Kenobi in the next episode of Star Wars. According to The Sun, the actor is “secretly filming” for the next movie. He last appeared in the franchise in 2005’s Revenge Of The Sith.