10 Movies That Subverted Expectations (And Fans Hated It)

4. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Prometheus EW Cover
Lucasfilm

Going into The Last Jedi, longtime Star Wars fans were expecting to see further details revealed about the relationship between Kylo Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke, hear which famed franchise character Rey was related to, see how the movie would write-off Carrie Fisher's Leia, and see just how Luke Skywalker would react to The Force Awaken's cliff-hanger ending.

J.J. Abrams’ Star Wars: The Force Awakens was a well-received return for the franchise, although some did take umbrage with just how formulaic and predictable the picture was. For Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi, predictability was taken out of the equation.

That relationship between Kylo and Snoke? Brutally put to an end. Rey's parents? Absolute nobodies. Leia? Despite the perfect moment to kill the character off, she's still alive and well. Luke being handed his lightsaber? The Jedi hermet comically was not bothered in the slightest.

Of course, Abrams’ The Rise of Skywalker could well change some of these things and reveal more details when it hits the silver screen this December. For now, fans were left hugely miffed at the brief, blunt resolutions delivered in The Last Jedi.

As soon as Luke Skywalker nonchalantly threw away his classic lightsaber in the movie’s opening scene, we knew that TLJ wasn't going to be the film we were expecting.

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Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main dayjob, his role as the lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund, Kane Hodder, Adrienne Barbeau, Rob Zombie, Katharine Isabelle, Leigh Whannell, Bruce Campbell, and Tony Todd, to Kevin Smith, Ron Perlman, Elijah Wood, Giancarlo Esposito, Simon Pegg, Charlie Cox, the Russo Brothers, and Brian Blessed, to Kevin Conroy, Paul Dini, Tara Strong, Will Friedle, Burt Ward, Andrea Romano, Frank Miller, and Rob Liefeld, to Bret Hart, Sting, Mick Foley, Ricky Starks, Jamie Hayer, Britt Baker, Eric Bischoff, and William Regal, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, Brian Flynn, Denis Smith, Gary Bennett, Karl Connolly, and Bryan Robson - and that's just the tip of an ever-expanding iceberg.