J.J. Abrams Star Wars: Episode IX balancing act challenge

J.J. Abrams will have to find a way to answer our questions while bringing closure to the Skywalker Saga in Star Wars: Episode IX.

Given the reins, Rian Johnson wasn’t holding back. He wasn’t giving in to fan’s expectations, and he certainly wasn’t letting J.J. Abrams nostalgia packed Episode VII or series outlines impact his decisions.

For better or worse, Johnson expanded the Force but, also, moved it in a different direction. Where there is an imbalance, the force will find a way to tip the scales so that they don’t hang too far in one direction—light will meet dark, the Ying and the Yang and so on and so forth.

Controversial as Johnson’s The Last Jedi was, Abrams is a veteran in the medium and is not without his own controversies (looking at you Lost), the question for some hardcore fans—the ones who hated The Last Jedi—is will Abrams be able to steer the franchise back? The questions for those who loved The Last Jedi (raising my hand emphatically) read…

The Last Jedi is the ultimate letdown movie

…to understand my thinking — is how will keep it in line with what this trilogy has now offered?

Both are valid questions, and right ones, but, ultimately, one inquiry is the most important one: How will J.J. Abrams tie it all together?

After all, in some ways, Rian Johnson fixed the force, agree or disagree, he did. The Force is now open to anyone, not just bloodlines and Midi-chlorian hoarders. The Force requires balance and will find vessels to complete this balance. And, the Force, knows no real boundaries, i.e., Luke’s Crait escape.

But bloodlines are essential, after all, this is the Skywalker Saga, is it not? And after losing Luke Skywalker and the unfortunate, passing of Carrie Fisher, we seem to be all out of Skywalkers. The bloodline, however, still flows strong with one Ben Solo A.K.A Kylo Ren.

Abrams will have to flesh out the role of the Skywalkers within these dark, tempestuous times. Leaving himself an episode remaining not just to end this trilogy, but, Abrams is tasked with the hefty goal of rectifying the originals and prequels while finding an ending that satisfies all three.

More from Dork Side of the Force

As much as it has been speculated otherwise, it’s revealed that Abrams and Johnson worked closely together while crafting both The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi independently, to create a particular flow. That being stated, one has to believe that Kathleen Kennedy and Abrams have an endgame—even if Rian Johnson opened a Pandora’s box of questions.

Big but here, however, pressed in a Rolling Stone Interview in November, Abrams was questioned about the Skywalkers and whether this is, definitively, their end. His answer did leave the door slightly open: “I do see it that way,” he says. “But the future is in flux.”

One can almost hear shades of Yoda’s always in motion the future is.

Anyway, this isn’t the end, not really. Where does the force go? Nobody knows, but Disney and its cohorts are crafting more Star Wars Episodes than we (in Obi-Wan’s voice) could possibly imagine. Star Wars until we are dead and beyond.

So, are we any closer to our answers? Yes, only 56 days and some change until we find out when Star Wars: Episode IX arrives.

Next: What Abrams’ Ep. IX script will look like

No pressure, J.J., only the weight of the largest, most vocal (maybe whiny at times) fandom in modern history.

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