Rian Johnson stands by his portrayal of Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi
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It's been five years since Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi hit screens, and for five years we've had a seemingly seasonal reemergence of discourse. Depending on who you're talking to, the film is either the best movie of the new wave of Star Wars or the worst in the entire franchise.
Speaking with Empire, director Rian Johnson stands by his work, including the portrayal of Mark Hamill's Luke Skywalker, which proved to be a particularly polarizing point among the fandom.
The Last Jedi, released in 2017, saw a defeated Luke living in isolation on an island on the planet Ahch-To. His former padawan and nephew, Adam Driver's Kylo Ren, made a stark turn towards the Dark Side and the Jedi master blamed himself for it. This contrast to how fans remembered Luke became a hot-button talking point after the movie came out.
In the new interview, Johnson explains the arc of the character in The Last Jedi, particularly the lingering last moments of his death.
John Wilson/Lucasfilm Ltd. 'Star Wars: The Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson stands by the depiction of Luke Skywalker in the film.
"The final images of the movie, to me, are not deconstructing the myth of Luke Skywalker, they're building it, and they're him embracing it," he said. "They're him absolutely defying the notion of, 'Throw away the past,' and embracing what actually matters about his myth and what's going to inspire the next generation. So for me, the process of stripping away is always in the interest of getting to something essential that really matters."
Johnson feels "even more proud" of The Last Jedi five years out from its premiere.
"When I was up at bat, I really swung at the ball," the filmmaker told Empire. "I think it's impossible for any of us to approach Star Wars without thinking about it as a myth that we were raised with, and how that myth, that story, baked itself into us and affected us. The ultimate intent was not to strip away — the intent was to get to the basic, fundamental power of myth. And ultimately I hope the film is an affirmation of the power of the myth of Star Wars in our lives."
Johnson was supposed to return to develop his own Star Wars trilogy of movies, but Lucasfilm has since pivoted to focus on television, specifically works for Disney+. The most recent series delivered to fans was the Ewan McGregor-led Obi-Wan Kenobi, which will now be followed by Andor with Diego Luna and The Mandalorian season 3 with Pedro Pascal.
Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy told Vanity Fair earlier this year that Johnson's trilogy is on the back-burner. "Rian has been unbelievably busy with Knives Out and the deal that he made at Netflix for multiple movies," she said.
Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery, the first sequel to Johnson's whodunnit hit of 2019, is scheduled to premiere on Netflix this Dec. 23.
"I've stayed close to Kathleen and we get together often and talk about it," Johnson now tells Empire. "It's just at this point a matter of schedule and when it can happen. It would break my heart if I were finished, if I couldn't get back in that sandbox at some point."
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