One of the main fan knocks on the “Star Wars” franchise as managed by Kathleen Kennedy and Lucasfilm without George Lucas is that “they’re making it up as they go,” as if there’s no grand plan and as if Lucas had the entirety of the “Star Wars” saga in his head from the beginning. All writers make stories up as they go, that’s the process.
READ MORE: Daisy Ridley Suggest Rian Johnson Throw Away Abrams’ Story For ‘The Last Jedi’
But there is something to be said about the so-called “Star Wars” relay race approach where one filmmaker seems to be handing over the script to the other. “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” director Rian Johnson suggested, in our recent interview, that he and J.J Abrams didn’t have much interaction on the story or development of Episode VIII.
“No, not really,” he said about whether ‘Force Awakens’ filmmakers J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan shared their ideas of where they wanted to see the story go. “It was kind of a baton handoff between us. Before I started writing I had a meeting with J.J. and it was very general and I talked to him about some of his intentions with ‘The Force Awakens.’ And then after I’d got a pitch together I sat down and talked J.J. through it and he was excited, but there wasn’t a lot of active involvement in terms of the story developing between us.”
‘Star Wars’: Everyone Is Arguing About Rey’s Parents Again
Recent reports have kind of contradicted that notion. While Johnson was said to be writing ‘The Last Jedi’ from scratch, recent comments from ‘Force Awakens’ star Daisy Ridley suggested that Johnson might have thrown away some of Abrams ideas.
“J.J. wrote ‘Episode VII,’ he also wrote drafts for ‘VIII’ & ‘IX,’” she said. “Then Rian arrived and re-wrote [‘The Last Jedi’] entirely. I believe there was some sort of general consensus on the main storylines that would happen in the trilogy, but apart from that, we agreed that every director should probably make his movie his own way. Rian and J. J. Abrams met many times to discuss ‘The Last Jedi,’ although ‘Episode VIII’ is very much mostly Rian’s and I do believe Rian didn’t keep anything from the first draft of the ‘Episode VIII’ script”
READ MORE: Rian Johnson Talks Rey’s Parents, Defends Luke’s Force Powers
In the recent Happy Sad Confused podcast, the gift that keeps giving this week, Simon Pegg, who has a small role in “The Force Awakens” suggested that J.J. Abrams did have intentions for Rey’s much-discussed, parents—something fans fought about for months— but that Johnson’s ‘Last Jedi’ movie has kind of undone and negated those ideas.
“I know what J.J. intended or at least [the idea of] what was being chucked around,” Pegg said of the ideas behind Rey’s true lineage. “I think that’s been undone slightly by the [‘The Last Jedi’].” That’s likely going to be some kind of bombshell for fans. Asked to explain further, Pegg suggested that Rey’s parents were initially intended to be someone more familiar to the “Star Wars” universe.
“Well, there was some talk about a kind of relevant lineage for her,” he said before backing off a little. “But I honestly don’t know, and I don’t know if anyone knows, we’ll see.”
READ MORE: Even Mark Hamill Thinks There are Too Many Damn ‘Star Wars’ Movies
The question of Rey’s parents was obviously furiously debated in the run-up to ‘The Last Jedi’ and some fans were deeply disappointed by Johnson’s decision to make them nobodies (though some fans are desperately theorizing that Kylo Ren was lying). Personally, I think Johnson made the absolute right choice to make Rey’s parents unconnected to the greater “Star Wars” saga, but Pegg’s reveal will surely have fans pondering (possibly angry) about the idea that Rey could have been the daughter of one of the more well-known characters (Obi-Wan was a theory many fans loved).
It’s interesting to hear Pegg, a huge, devoted “Star Wars” fan discuss this new generation of Lucasfilm movies. Mark Hammill recently said there are too many damn “Star Wars” films, and Pegg kind of implies the same intimating that “Star Wars” is no longer for him.
Asked if he has pitched any “Star Wars” ideas to Kathleen Kennedy and co., Pegg said no. “I don’t know if I care enough anymore,” he said, a bit shockingly so since Pegg is known in nerd pop culture as a huge “Star Wars” devotee. “I think that’s down to the ‘Force Awakens’ kind of coming together of my childhood dreams. I felt like it was a post-orgasmic malaise. Now, I’m like, ‘There’s a Han Solo movie, is there?’ I’m not kind of… I don’t feel like it’s for me anymore, you know? That’s not to say I’m beyond it, it’s for other people now and god bless them. May the Force be with them.”
You’ll have to hear it for yourself, but it sounds pretty clear that Pegg’s enthusiasm for “Star Wars” has waned and to that end, I’d love to hear what he thought about the polarizing ‘Last Jedi.’ It’s an intriguing podcast, we’ve already detailed his thoughts on whether he thinks Quentin Tarantino will direct a “Star Trek” film or not and you can listen below for more.