More than three years on from Star Wars: The Last Jedi, the dust has finally settled and fans are reevaluating it. After all, in the wake of The Rise of Skywalker, it looks a lot better by comparison and now, Rian Johnson has opened up about his thoughts on the film in a new interview with USA Today’s Sariah Wilson.
The article itself is yet to be published, though she’s posted some insights from it on Twitter and one of the most interesting is a confirmation that Johnson “absolutely saw” Kylo and Rey as a romance.
“I mean, there was more to their stories and growth and arcs, but he saw them as romantic and intimate.”
Throughout The Last Jedi, the pair were in telepathic communication via the Force, forming a connection that seemed to transcend the Resistance vs, First Order military conflict. This came to a head in the finale when Kylo offers Rey the chance to rule the galaxy alongside him. For a moment, she was tempted, but realized that this would only lead to disaster.
Their relationship eventually concluded with a kiss at the end of The Rise of Skywalker, but any further romantic inclinations were squashed by the dumb decision to make Rey Emperor Palpatine’s granddaughter and Kylo Ren’s death (which was apparently always going to happen).
There’s further good news for The Last Jedi fans, though. Wilson also confirmed that the director’s long-delayed Star Wars trilogy is indeed still going ahead at Lucasfilm. After so long without any news, most had assumed it’d been quietly cancelled, but she says that he and the studio are now developing it.
“No dates or timelines because he has other projects going on, but it is happening.”
We’ve been hearing for years about how Lucasfilm want to bring Knights of the Old Republic to the big screen, and given that the second game in the franchise involves the morality and metaphysics of the Force, I think Rian Johnson is the perfect person for the job. Let’s hope that interview drops soon and there are more surprises in it.