Star Wars: The Force Awakens Vs The Last Jedi - Which Is Better?
5. Villains
The Force Awakens brought three new villains to the franchise in the form of Kylo Ren (aka Ben Solo), Supreme Leader Snoke, and General Hux. They were all very different in their own ways, though Ren was a particular stand-out thanks to a mesmerising performance courtesy of Adam Driver.
Snoke was criticised for being underwritten, of course, and audiences hoped they'd learn more about this mysterious character in Episode VIII.
Uh, nope. The Last Jedi not only did not bother to add any new villains to the mix, but it decided to kill off Snoke partway through the film (his motivations still unknown) and render Hux as an outright buffoon. Kylo Ren, on the other hand, already the most interesting of the three, continued to blossom. Episode VIII depicts a broken, torn, and complex individual - a proper villain with a conflicted fate.
Winner: Adam Driver was great in The Force Awakens, but he was even better in The Last Jedi. It's the latter film that feels like it has the strongest villain as a result, then, so Rian Johnson's entry takes the point here.