The Rise of Skywalker introduces Force Powers that will divide the fan base.
The Rise of Skywalker introduces new Force Powers, to which the fanbase will undoubtedly react divided. This is what director JJ Abrams says in an interview. In The Last Jedi, we already saw some controversial choices about the Force, so Star Wars fans are (of course) holding their hearts.
In an interview with Vanity Fair, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker director JJ Abrams revealed that Episode IX will not only showcase familiar Star Wars elements, but also add new elements that the fanbase will respond to in a mixed way. If the director himself says this, it is undoubtedly true. It is not very difficult to divide the Star Wars fan base, as this happens with practically every movie!
It was really important that we not just redo the things you’ve seen, but add new elements — which we knew will infuriate some people and thrill others.
Among those things are not just new ways of doing sort of traditional, must-have sequences, whether it’s chases or lightsaber battles, or what have you. We wanted to make sure that this picture also showed aspects of the Force in ways that go beyond what you’ve seen before.
That last sentence in particular will make a large number of Star Wars fans nervous. Do we still want to see complicated new Force Powers? In The Last Jedi we already saw a lot of new ways in which the Force is used, and one raised even more questions than the other. For example, we saw Rey and Kylo Ren having full conversations in their minds through the Force; Luke Skywalker who projects himself from a rock onto another planet for his final showdown with Kylo Ren, and Leia Organa literally flying through space. The fact that Rey gets along very well with the Force without too much training is also a point of irritation with many fans (and Mark Hamill as well). What Baby Yoda can do right away, that’s fine …
But in The Rise of Skywalker, they go one step further when it comes to Force Powers, because for the last film in the trilogy (and the Skywalker saga) they want to turn out extra large.
After that, Abrams talks about the fans for a bit, and the bottom line is that no matter how much or little he changes, he can never get it right:
There are some people who want to not like something — and they will, without question, find something to not like. And people who want to like it, will find the things to like. I feel like you get criticized for changing too much, you get criticized for not changing enough. And everyone’s opinion is valid.
Finally, Abrams says he wants to close the final chapter in the Skywalker saga not only by expanding the universe even further, but also opening possibilities for the future:
You want to see something that feels like it is moving, that it is shocking, that is also incredibly funny, that has got a big heart. But you want to make sure that you’re bringing elements that feel like it’s expanding the story, even as this brings it to a close.
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker is everything but the last Star Wars movie. The franchise brings in far too much money for that. Not true, Disney?
Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters on December 18. Watch a trailer of the film here and here. Check out the Super Power talk where Dwayne, Wouter and Kenneth talk about The Mandalorian, which also seems to have something to do with The Rise of Skywalker … Except that both are Star Wars of course!
