Star Wars: The Last Jedi - Everything We Know So Far
5. It's Like Empire, Kinda
Since The Empire Strikes Back itself came out, taking a darker turn to the first movie, it's become shorthand for any sequel looking to go darker and/or ramp up the stakes - "it's like Empire."
Naturally, then, this being an actual Star Wars film, the same thing has been said of Episode VIII. This time by one of the cast members, Adam Driver, although it's not exactly what he meant. He said:
"It's is similar to how The Empire Strikes Back has a different tone. For that people always go 'oooh, it’s dark' but I don’t know that it necessarily is. It’s just different in tone in a way that I think is great and necessary but also very clear."
While it'd be easy to expect The Last Jedi will take a darker turn, especially after the death of Han Solo and the blueprint offered by Empire (not to mention the foreboding red on the new poster), Driver's comments suggest something different, and that couples with Johnson's own ideas for the film.
The director told USA Today that he "want[s] it to be a blast and to be funny and to be a ride the way The Force Awakens and the original Star Wars movies were."