Following 2017’s Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson was offered by Lucasfilm the opportunity to create his own original trilogy set in that universe. Instead, he turned his attention to Knives Out and an exclusive deal with Netflix to complete a totally separate trilogy of detective movies. Johnson kept being asked about Star Wars, though, and we joked about it here that he never sounded like he had any plan to actually go through with it. Well, looks like we were right.
Speaking with Rolling Stone, Johnson revealed that his original Star Wars trilogy never got out of the concept phase. No shock there, since he also found time to launch the Peacock series, Poker Face…
“It was all very conceptual. There was never any outline or treatment or anything…Nothing really happened with it. We had a great time working together, and they said, ‘Let’s keep doing it.’ I said, ‘Great!’ I would kick ideas around with Kathy. It’s the sort of thing if, down the line, there’s an opportunity to do it, or do something else in Star Wars, I would be thrilled. But right now I’m just doing my own stuff, and pretty happy,” Johnson said.
Johnson also talked about the controversial decision to dispense with Supreme Leader Snoke (played by Andy Serkis), after being set up as the next Palpatine-level threat. Instead, the attention turned towards making Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren the big bad villain for the final chapter…
“That was, in reading J.J.’s script, and watching the dailies, and seeing the power of Adam Driver’s character. The interrogation scene in the first movie, between Rey and Kylo, was so incredibly powerful. Seeing this complicated villain that’s been created, I was just so compelled by that. This is all a matter of perspective and phrasing, but to me, I didn’t easily dispense with Snoke. I took great pains to use him in the most dramatically impactful way I could, which was to then take Kylo’s character to the next level and set him up as well as I possibly could. I guess it all comes down to your point of view. I thought, “This is such a compelling and complicated villain. This is is who it makes sense going forward to build around.’”
It’s possible that Kylo Ren’s story isn’t completely over. Daisy Ridley is returning as Rey Skywalker in Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy’s Star Wars: The New Jedi Order, and something tells me Kylo Ren, or Ben Solo, will factor in somehow.
Johnson wraps up Knives Out with Wake Up Dead Man, which hits Netflix on December 12th.
