Unlike the original and prequel trilogies, which were the creative brainchildren of George Lucas, many of the Star Wars sequel trilogy decisions were made by the likes of J.J. Abrams, Chris Terrio and Rian Johnson. In the case of The Last Jedi, even the name was Johnson's choice.On Twitter, a fan asked Johnson who came up with the name for Episode VIII, to which he replied, "It was me, had it very early in the writing process."
Though The Last Jedi was lauded by critics, the film was met with backlash by a number of longtime Star Wars fans who felt it went too far in terms of subverting expectations. Many also took exception with the portrayal of Luke Skywalker, who was reintroduced for the first time since Return of the Jedi (save for the tease at the end of The Force Awakens) as a disillusioned hermit who'd cut himself off from the Force. Even Mark Hamill himself famously said, "he's not my Luke Skywalker."
In the time since its release, other stars of the film have started to call The Last Jedi into question. John Boyega, who played Finn in the sequel trilogy, said, "The Force Awakens I think was the beginning of something quite solid, The Last Jedi if I'm being honest I'd say that was feeling a bit iffy to me. I didn't necessarily agree with a lot of the choices in that and that's something that spoke to Mark [Hamill] a lot about and we had conversations about it. And it was hard for all of us, because we were separated."
Ironically, The Last Jedi's successor -- The Rise of Skywalker -- had almost the opposite effect; the film was received far more favorably by fans than by critics, and Daisy Ridley, who played Rey, has expressed her satisfaction with how the Skywalker saga concluded, saying, "I think for me the beauty of Episode IX is it ends with such hope and such potential."
Written and directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi stars Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Gwendoline Christie, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern and Carrie Fisher.
Source: Twitter