7. The Transition Between Episode VII & Episode VIII Is Intended To Be "Seamless"
For those who are worried that Episode VIII might wind up feeling "different" from its predecessor due to the change in director between films, don't fret: J.J. Abrams not only ensured that Rian Johnson was involved during the production of Episode VII, but he sent him an early cut of The Force Awakens to aid the director's own writing process. As J.J. Abrams explained during an interview with Wired:
"We wanted them to be part of the process, to make the transition to their film as seamless as possible. I showed Rian an early cut of the movie, because I knew he was doing his rewrite and prepping.
Despite the fact that Episode VIII is all Rian Johnson, it's clear that J.J. Abrams and Disney still want the films to flow into one another so that they feel like part of the same universe. This is a good thing, of course, because Episode VIII still needs to feel like a visual and aesthetic companion to Episode VII.