Star Wars: The Last Jedi really didn't go the way we thought, proving to be the most controversial entry since Disney's resurrection of the series with a backlash perhaps even on a par with the highly divisive prequels. Considering how both The Force Awakens and Rogue One have been marked out by a sense of universal praise, could this see Lucasfilm change course on the franchise going forward - either with the plot of Episode 9 or further into the future with more spinoffs and Episode VIII director Rian Johnson's new, separate trilogy?

In the weeks since The Last Jedi dropped, there's been much debate over where the line lies in terms of critical and audience reaction, as well as how its box office stacks up against its predecessors. This, rather than speculation on the future or simple geeking out over using hyperspace as a weapon, has been the prominent discussion, leading to rumors that the film's ending was changed, or that future projects are in jeopardy (along with the bizarre call for the movie to be struck from canon). What we know is that J.J. Abrams is still hammering out the broad strokes of Star Wars 9, which does leave the door open for some reactionary adjustments. But is that going to happen?

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We've seen drastic course corrections a lot recently as franchises try and expand in an annual (or greater) model. Sony's Spider-Man series has spun around several times this decade, with there now three distinct versions of the character coming this year (Peter Parker in Avengers: Infinity War, Miles Morales in Spider-Man: Enter the Spider-Verse, and Eddie Brock in Venom), while the DCEU has been heavily criticized for its unclear plans and heavy, last-minute revisions to the likes of Suicide Squad and Justice League in reaction to the reception of trailers and previous movies. Even Marvel has quite openly shifted films around the slate to allow for the entry of Spidey/removal of Inhumans (of course, in that case the shifts tend to be in the positive direction).

With that in mind, it's not out of the question that Disney could do something similar for Star Wars. However, based on everything we know about the behind-the-scenes workings at Lucasfilm and how The Last Jedi's reception is actually regarded, that doesn't seem likely.

Lucasfilm Didn't Course Correct on The Last Jedi (This Page)

Lucasfilm Didn't Course Correct on The Last Jedi

The biggest misconception about The Last Jedi to have emerged in the past month is that it was in any way made to be a reaction to The Force Awakens. After all, the pair couldn't be more different; one a loving homage to the original trilogy, the other a conscious divergence in almost every way possible. And, as the most persistent criticisms of Episode VII is that it was a "remake" of A New Hope (slightly untrue - it has comparable plot beats, but with a different character story at its core), and Episode VIII also moved focus away from some seemingly-established plot threads, this is taken as proof of a change in direction.

That is, plainly, not true. Rian Johnson was hired to write and direct Episode VIII in June 2014, eighteen months before The Force Awakens hit. By the time of that much-hyped December 2015 release, he'd already finished the script for 8 (which J.J. Abrams loved) and started filming some scenes in Ireland, with principal photography starting in February 2016 - when Episode VII was still in theaters. There was, evidently, no time to change course - the film we got is the film we were always going to get regardless of how the first of the sequel trilogy was received. In fact, the impact goes the other way - Johnson's arc for Luke actually led to Abrams changing the final scene of the film to avoid a plot contradiction. It's further worth noting that The Last Jedi was completed on schedule with minimal reshoots, meaning there weren't any major changes made mid-production.

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Even the talk of retcons doesn't quite work. Many of the aspects that are commonly cited as being adjusted- the Knights of Ren, hermit Luke, and Rey's parents - are all actually pretty faithful to The Force Awakens' story: the Knights were as passive a concern there as they are in the follow-up, so them not appearing in The Last Jedi is a continuation of approach; there's no firm suggestion of Luke actually still being a Jedi hero; and Rey's parents are quite clearly set up as nobodies throughout Episode VII, perhaps most pointedly when Maz says as much to her. The only thing that may have changed is Snoke, who Johnson only realized he was going to kill while working on Kylo Ren's arc, but that choice will nevertheless have been made before his debut hit.

This is all public information and really rather obvious following the news cycle, although really only stems from a bigger misunderstanding.

George Lucas Created The Illusion of A Master Plan

Star Wars long existed in the popular consciousness as a pre-determined idea; depending on when in the 1980s you asked him, George Lucas had always planned for six, nine or twelve movies right from the first drafts of The Star Wars, giving an air of greater creative oversight to the undertaking. However, that was little more than elaborate marketing spiel.

Yes, Lucas had plans for multiple trilogies and a vague idea of what each trio would entail, but it was hardly crystal clear and very open to major changes: Vader being Anakin Skywalker famously didn't come to him until the second draft of The Empire Strikes Back; Return of the Jedi was at one point going to end with Luke walking off into the sunset after the death of Vader but survival of the Emperor on the hunt for his non-Leia sister; and while his basic arc for the prequels (Beginning, love story, Vader) remained, he adjusted focus in response to backlash.

Read More: George Lucas' Star Wars Sequel Trilogy Plans

All he really had early on was the idea of trilogies, but the public illusion of confidence allowed the idea to stick. That has, in turn, made his unmade treatments for the sequels (note: treatments, not scripts) somewhat legendary. In contrast to that, it's inevitable that Disney's alternative expansion would feel unplanned and scattered. And, while it may not have been envisioned by Lucas (who has been oh-so-careful with the wording of his praise of all post-purchase releases), that's not really true.

Lucasfilm Plans Much Further Ahead Than People Think

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Lucasfilm right now is thinking years ahead at a time. Per Disney CEO Bob Iger, discussions for Star Wars up to 2030 have taken place and Story Group member Pablo Hidalgo says he spent time in 2017 directly working on projects that won't be public until 2021 (it's not clear if that's a film or wider canon material, but the implication is clear).

Tellingly, over five years since the purchase, we're still on something approaching the original gameplan; the first five movies - the sequel trilogy, Rogue One and Solo - were all rumored in the months following the deal, and the Boba Fett film that fell apart following the departure of Josh Trank is still on the cards, as is the long-expected Obi-Wan film. The only project that's remotely "new" (i.e. wasn't known about by the public in 2013) is Rian Johnson's standalone trilogy, but that will likely release almost a decade after Disney started the new era of Star Wars so is hardly a change (and if that does wind up being about the Unknown Regions, then must have been in the works long before The Last Jedi director got involved).

Simply put, everything is proceeding as Kathleen Kennedy has foreseen. There are adjustments along the way, but they're more character than plot (Snoke's death, Maz's Force powers), and minor on a production scale (release date changes have been by months alone, and while the director firings are very problematic, they've not slowed the machine); the river can change direction but the destination is the same. This is more than can be said of Lucas, a man who ended the Saga with Episode VI initially because he was fed up. Lucasfilm has a plan and has been following it all along.

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It's further worth noting that this structure isn't just movies either; Star Wars is TV shows, books, games, merchandising and more. Everything is so tightly wound that it requires this foresight. As we know they're looking towards the mid-2020s seriously (at least), that means any adjustment in response to The Last Jedi would fundamentally impact the entirety of Lucasfilm.

Although that, of course, assumes, there'd be any desire to shift in the first place.

The Last Jedi Didn't Do as Bad As Dissenters Think

The whole notion of course correction basically bypasses the discussed facts about Lucasfilm's process, and does so based on the assumption that The Last Jedi is a failure. And, really, it isn't. Financially, it's a bona fide hit, passing over a billion worldwide and almost effortlessly becoming the biggest film of 2017 domestically. That may not see it on a par with The Force Awakens, but no prediction ever expected the same cultural whallop of the return of the franchise after a decade; how the film's performing is, by-and-large, as good as could be predicted.

The real measure of failure, of course, comes from opinion, but that's not exactly cut-and-dry. A lot of common metrics are flawed - especially the oft-cited Rotten Tomatoes audience score, which is dogged with suggestions of bots and blind rigging - and anything more impromptu falls apart due to bias and sample sizes. We're really working with echo chambers of discussion, and if backlash truly is as granular as a fan/general audience divide, then there's going to be a lot of illusioned validation. Just because everyone on a subreddit feels that way doesn't mean it can be extrapolated for the whole audience.

Contrast the overall reactions to The Force Awakens and Rogue One: on a wide scale are they overall any different? Both of those films had allegedly fundamental criticisms leveled at them - being a spiritual remake and narratively choppy respectively - that emerged in response to overwhelming praise that sit alongside the typical complaints about The Last Jedi. The only difference here is it's the die-hard fans who are angry, leading to louder voices and more targeted presentation of opinion.

Related: The Last Jedi Is The Batman v Superman Of Star Wars

That's not to say reception to The Last Jedi isn't more mixed than The Force Awakens among fans, but the general audience mood, evidenced by ongoing box office (negative interest leads to a stall), is definitely not negative. It may be divisive for its audaciousness, but The Last Jedi is a success; we know Lucasfilm is about all quadrants, not just one section of the audience. Why would they change tact just because of a vocal minority? And even if it was a bad film (which it isn't), to hit a billion and keep growing shows an audience and nullifies it from being deemed a failure. Take DC's growing focus on Suicide Squad; the first film was savaged after crippling reshoots (an example of course correction), but it's financial success meant that didn't cause pause.

Changes Are Coming - But Not Because of The Last Jedi

There's no reason to course correct because of The Last Jedi, and it would be difficult and unprecedented to do otherwise. That's not to say changes aren't coming to Star Wars, just that they're not catalyzed or in reaction to Episode VIII.

Before we get into the future, first a note on Solo: A Star Wars Story. It's all but inevitable that this will be used by some as a measure of backlash impact, which is a bit off. Between long-held apathy around the idea and relentless reports of behind-the-scenes controversy, Solo is a confounding prospect, not helped by a radio silence on marketing. Add to that the fact it's coming less than a month after Avengers: Infinity War and a week before Deadpool 2, and it's looking like it'll be the first Disney Star Wars film to not make $1 billion worldwide. That's a likelihood totally unrelated to The Last Jedi or any other outside factors, so its reception - financially or critically - can't be taken as a sign of any backlash impact and won't build to point towards any further change of tact (unless it's a massive dud, making below $700 million). What the Ron Howard film is primarily is a continuation of the Anthology spinoff enterprise and the potential start of a Han trilogy; an experiment in a very different sense (and, as stated earlier, has been on the cards since 2013).

Looking further ahead, already we know Episode IX has been heavily restructured, with most of the long-standing work done over the past few years thrown out as J.J. Abrams starts work on his new pitch. However, that's a result of something going wrong in the relationship between original director Colin Trevorrow and Lucasfilm (allegedly his rigidity and ego), and the death of Carrie Fisher. It was long-stated IX was set to focus more on Leia, and now we know that's because she's the only living original trio member, meaning that (depending on what the plan was) a major rejig of the story was needed.

Related: The Last Jedi's Final Scene Changes Star Wars Forever (And For The Better)

Temiri Blagg in The Last Jedi

After that, though, bigger changes are coming. Based on what Episode VIII does - we get confirmation Kylo Ren is the only Skywalker of the new generation and that he's beyond redemption, making his death the most logical conclusion - it seems like the Skywalker Saga could end with Episode IX. Along with the greater sense of moving on from the restrictive constructs of the past - shown in Rey's multi-film arc and the Force adept on Canto Bight - the film itself heavily suggests we're starting to see a shift of Star Wars from family to world; this isn't just one story. Indeed, the only confirmed movie after 9 is Rian Johnson's totally-disconnected trilogy.

Knowledge of this likely emboldened Johnson in his Saga entry, knowing that any potentially controversial steps would begin to pale against the greater backdrop of the franchise. Lucasfilm, likewise, knew any such shifts would only cause problems with the one section of their massive audience that would come back regardless; for them, mass appeal and casual brand interest are of tantamount importance. They wanted to make changes, and that's that's exactly what they did.

The Last Jedi won't lead to a course correction. It was the course correction.

Next: Do Disney's Star Wars Movies Live Up to the Originals?

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