Rian Johnson: From Jedi Battles to Knives Out Clues

There’s surviving a Star Wars fan war—and then there’s thriving through it while writing your next hit murder mystery in a bathrobe. Rian Johnson, the director who divided the galaxy with The Last Jedi, sat down with The Independent and, as always, brought his blend of intellect, charm, and just enough self-deprecating humor to remind us why he’s still one of the most interesting creatives in Hollywood.

In case you missed it: yes, Johnson’s Star Wars trilogy is still technically in development. No, there are no confirmed release dates. And yes, he still very much cares about the franchise, even if portions of the internet continue to wield pitchforks over Luke Skywalker’s moody hermit phase.

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Star Wars: The Great Fan War (Episode ∞)

Let’s address the nerf-herder in the room: The Last Jedi. Johnson, ever the diplomat, likens the franchise’s heated history to actual world wars.

“We experienced our own,” he says, reminiscing about the chaotic reception of the prequel trilogy. “That [the prequels] was World War I, and this [The Last Jedi] was World War II.”

History books, take notes.

But here’s the twist: Johnson isn’t bitter. In fact, he’s surprisingly grateful. “It’s not like I’ve gone through a living hell,” he insists. Instead, he calls his Star Wars journey a dream come true, the kind of gig filmmakers fantasize about while editing student films in tiny apartments.

And despite the vocal outrage, Johnson believes the fans have made him more of a Star Wars loyalist. Not less. “That’s really something,” he says. “Because I grew up with it as the bedrock of my childhood.”

So while some fans might still be writing essays on how Holdo’s hyperspace maneuver broke canon, Johnson’s out here sipping his caf and smiling through the chaos.

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Benoit Blanc and the Case of the Missing Eye Patch

After the hyperspace dust settled, Johnson pivoted. Enter Knives Out. Or, more specifically, enter Benoit Blanc—a character Daniel Craig plays like a Southern gentleman detective whose DNA is 60% Colonel Sanders and 40% Agatha Christie.

But did you know Blanc almost wore an eye patch?

“When I first started writing the Benoit Blanc character,” Johnson reveals, “I very much had in my head, ‘Let’s write a really iconic detective.’” That train of thought quickly derailed. “What if he had an eye patch? What if he wears a certain hat all the time?”

At some point, Rian looked at the pile of quirks and decided, perhaps wisely, that he was writing Inspector Clouseau with a head injury. The lesson? Great characters aren’t born from gimmicks—they come from trusting your actor and letting the weirdness evolve naturally. (And if Craig wants to wear a cravat and wax poetic about doughnuts, who’s stopping him?)

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The Star Wars Trilogy That May Yet Be

Now, let’s go back to that galaxy far, far away.

While Lucasfilm has shuffled more directors than a Sabacc deck, Johnson’s trilogy isn’t off the table. It’s just… floating somewhere in hyperspace limbo, waiting for schedules, scripts, and maybe a little more distance from the internet’s angrier corners.

And if that trilogy ever does see the light of day? Expect something fresh. Johnson has always emphasized the importance of pushing the Star Wars mythos into new territory. That’s why he skipped the nostalgia buffet in The Last Jedi and served up space monks wrestling with existential dread instead.

Love it or loathe it, Johnson’s vision was never boring.

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A Director Who Still Believes

What’s most striking about Rian Johnson isn’t that he survived the backlash. It’s that he walked through it with optimism intact and creativity firing on all cylinders. From directing Luke Skywalker’s final act to dreaming up murder mysteries with Southern-fried detectives, Johnson is proof that genre storytelling doesn’t have to play it safe—or conventional.

So whether you see him as a Star Wars subverter or a misunderstood genius, one thing’s clear: he’s not done surprising us.

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Conclusion:

Rian Johnson might have sparked one of the most intense debates in Star Wars history, but he’s handled it all with the grace of a Jedi and the wit of a seasoned screenwriter. His ability to pivot from space operas to sleuth stories—and maybe back again—shows why he’s one of the most versatile minds in Hollywood. Whether his trilogy eventually takes off or not, Johnson’s legacy is already secured: bold, divisive, and always interesting.

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