Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson has revealed that he didn't include the Knights of Ren in his movie simply because he didn't want it to get too overcrowded.

Speaking on an Empire podcast, Johnson explained that -- with so many characters in the flick already -- there wasn't any room for the fallen group of Jedi who sided with Ben Solo after he betrayed Luke. He also answered why the Knights weren't used as Snoke's Praetorian Guard, who Kylo helped kill after he betrayed and slaughtered his Supreme Leader.

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“We have a very full movie already there literally was just not room for another element," Johnson explained. "I guess I could’ve used them in place of the Praetorian guards but then it would feel like wasting them because all those guards had to die. And if Kylo had some kind of connection to them it would’ve added a complication that wouldn’t have helped the scene… Truth is, I just didn’t see a place for them in the movie.”

Many expected an appearance from the Knights after Luke mentioned them to Rey when discussing Ben's turn to the Dark Side, but -- just like Snoke's origins -- Johnson dropped them from his plot, perhaps leaving the man who introduced them to the franchise, J.J. Abrams, the opportunity to use them in Episode IX.

Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi stars Mark Hamill as Luke Skywalker, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Lupita Nyong’o as Maz Kanata, Benicio Del Toro as ‘DJ’, Kelly Marie Tran as Rose Tico, Laura Dern as Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo, and the late Carrie Fisher as General Leia Organa. The film is in theaters worldwide.

via ScreenRant