It was a long time coming, but the first trailer for Star Wars: The Last Jedi was finally revealed at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando. It didn’t show us too much from the movie – which was expected – but there was enough there to make it clear that we should expect a very different take on the franchise than what J.J. Abrams delivered with Star Wars: The Force Awakens back in 2015 when Disney and Lucasfilm resurrected the Star Wars saga.
That’s something which was emphasized by The Last Jedi star Daisy Ridley in a recent interview, when she explained that this movie is, well, “different.”
“I’ve spoken to a number of people that have seen a rough cut, and everyone’s like, ‘It’s different. It’s different.’ So I think with Rian’s vision and his image, and also I think he had J.J., who you know brought all the old fans back and the new fans in and he had all this stuff. Rian, I think, had more room to kind of do his thing.”
These comments are interesting for a number of reasons. For one, The Force Awakens was criticized for being too much like A New Hope in terms of both story and style, so fans will no doubt be pleased to learn that Johnson has delivered something a little more original.
It’s also exciting to think about what the director may have brought to The Last Jedi in terms of the visuals. When it comes to Star Wars movies, it often feels like we know what’s coming, but the Looper helmer may very well have delivered something truly unique here if he’s been given a greater level of creative freedom than Abrams had.
Will his vision resonate with fans and critics? That remains to be seen, but we’ll hopefully get more on Star Wars: The Last Jedi as its December release date draws closer. As always, watch this space for more.