J.J. Abrams Says He Wasn’t Trying to Retcon The Last Jedi

Well, it seems like The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams has an answer for those who claimed he was dissing The Last Jedi. Speaking at a recent event for The Academy, Abrams stated that actually there is no conflict with Rian Johnson, and that he wasn’t trying to retcon any choices Johnson made in The Last Jedi.

“The truth is that I was getting [The Force Awakens] up and running, I was nothing but grateful that a director and writer I admire as much as Rian was coming in to do that. Not expecting to come back to this, it was just fun to watch what was happening and get to respond to it. When I was called to come on to this movie, of course I wish we had that time that we didn’t.”

Abrams stressed once more that he and Chris Terrio collaborated with Johnson for The Rise of Skywalker. You can watch the full interview in the player below. (Via ComicBook.com)

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Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker‘s director went on to add that Johnson made “choices that no one else would have made.” In Abrams’ opinion, though, this opened several opportunities that he was able to exploit.

“And though there were challenges in every direction — some logistical, some narrative, everything — it was actually weirdly more helpful than not having that other energy, it felt like a sort of alchemy, because of the things that he did.”

Abrams then brought forward Luke Skywalker’s arc in The Last Jedi, quoting the scene when the former Jedi Master tosses his saber over his shoulder.

“One of the many brilliant things that Rian did in Last Jedi was give Luke an arc,” he concluded. “He learned something. He got somewhere and ended that film recommitting to the thing that in the very beginning of the film he was rejecting. The idea that even Luke Skywalker can learn something. For a kid to hear Luke Skywalker say ‘I was wrong,’ I think is a beautiful thing.”

The Rise of Skywalker is now in theaters. Do you agree with J.J. Abrams’ words? Or do you still have the feeling that he actually tried to retcon some of Rian Johnson’s choices in The Last Jedi? Let us know in the comments section below.