I’ve had my complaints about the current trilogy of Star Wars films from Disney, but by and large, I’ve enjoyed the stories they’ve put out and the characters they’ve created. With The Force Awakens, they brought a feeling of familiarity, but with The Last Jedi, they boldly went in a different direction than I’d expected, leaving a good chunk of the past behind in favor of something new. As someone who’s been ready to see new territory explored, I was ready.

And then that first teaser showed up, where we heard the Emperor’s familiar laughter. Not only did it suck that J.J. Abrams was bringing this dude back, but it felt off…as though it was coming out of nowhere and wasn’t exactly planned from the get-go. It felt lazy and sloppy to me, as though they were frantically trying to tie up loose ends at the last minute to make the three trilogies more cohesive.

RELATED – What Colin Trevorrow Contributed To Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Apparently, my ass is dead wrong.

“Bringing back the Emperor was an idea J.J. brought to the table when he came on board,” former Episode IX director Trevorrow told Empire. “It’s honestly something I never considered. I commend him for it. This was a tough story to unlock, and he found the key.”

Okay, so it was his idea from the beginning. But will he be able to believably make this feel like it was the plan from the beginning? That will be key here to making this a wholly satisfying ending — which is something Abrams is adamant about doing, as he revealed to EW earlier in the week. 

“So if someone is watching these movies — all nine of them — they’re watching a story that is as cohesive of possible,” Abrams said. “This is to say that while there are many things that were planned and discussed, that doesn’t mean there isn’t discovery, doesn’t mean there aren’t things that come up and say, ‘Oh, here’s an opportunity.’

“It also doesn’t mean,” Abrams continued, “‘Oh, here’s a list of payoffs that we have to do because of setups,’ but we also were very much aware this was the end of the trilogy, and it needs to satisfy. And endings were the thing that, frankly, scare me the most, so going into this thing, knowing this had to be an ending — and we’re not screwing around — so this was about bringing this thing to a close in a way that was as emotional and as meaningful and also as satisfying, in terms of something that can answer questions, as much as possible.”

"We're not screwing around."

Here's how #TheRiseOfSkywalker director J.J. Abrams crafted a satisfying end to the #StarWars saga pic.twitter.com/LWezHnvoR0

— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) November 21, 2019

How do you feel about this being Abrams’ plan from the start? Will he be able to retcon the entire trilogy to make it feel like the Emperor’s presence was there all along? Can he create a satisfactory ending? 

Let us know your thoughts down below!

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SOURCE: Empire, EW