Rian Johnson’s Episode VIII will do things never before seen in Star Wars

Last Updated on August 2, 2021

Rian Johnson is currently hard at work on STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII and although we know very little about the next installment of the STAR WARS sequel trilogy, it will apparently be shaking things up in a way never before seen in the STAR WARS franchise. While it's obviously safe to say that STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS was a massive success and pleased a great many people, there are some who took issue with how it recycled elements from the previous films and perhaps played it a little too safe. While speaking with The LA Times to promote the upcoming X-MEN: APOCALYPSE, Oscar Isaac confirmed that Rian Johnson will be bringing many different elements to EPISODE VIII.

Rian is definitely going to places and investigating things that haven’t really been done in the 'Star Wars' universe. For me, it’s so fun getting to explore different things that I wouldn’t have expected in this universe. In some ways it feels like we’re making an independent film, certain things we get to play with – this kind of intimacy that we get to find – it's special. It’s been really fun.

Oscar Isaac was agreeing with something which STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan mentioned last year when he said that "Rian Johnson is a friend of mine — he's going to make some weird thing, if you've seen Rian's work, you know it's not going be like anything that's ever been in Star Wars." While I wasn't bothered by any of the similarities between THE FORCE AWAKENS and the other films, if STAR WARS is going to last as long as Disney seems to hope it will (forever), they need to be able to carve their own path. Thankfully there were enough threads presented in THE FORCE AWAKENS which seemed to indicate to me that Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Finn (John Boyega) will indeed be taking part in their own unique story.

STAR WARS: EPISODE VIII is set to hit theaters on December 15, 2017.