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I think that depends in large part on the performance of TROS.

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You know, I disliked The Last Jedi intensely, but I respected some of its more ambitious brush-strokes. I feel like Johnson would do extremely well if handed the reins to make something more standalone and original.

If we the fans didn't care about the continuity on existing characters, and if Johnson was allowed to kill characters or change the plot's trajectory without a producer saying (for example), "You can't kill off Finn," I think Johnson could potentially make a really great saga.

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If they left him without any control, he would probably make Luke go back in time and kill his younger self so that all the episodes before TFA become non-existent.

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Would he? I don't know...

I'm a big fan of his other films, Looper, Brick, and The Brothers Bloom. Those aren't perfect movies, no, especially the way The Brothers Bloom basically has two alternate endings shoved into the same picture, but they're pretty great, I think.

Would he have come up with something fan-pleasing if he had been given carte blanche? No, but I think that's impossible (50% of fans will hate whatever comes up - Force Awakens, Last Jedi, Phantom Menace - whatever - they all have a large, vocal group of Star Wars fans who loathe those films).

The reason I think Last Jedi would have been made more palatable by giving Johnson free rein is because of one of his main themes, delivered I think in Luke's line, "This is not going to go the way you think." Johnson wanted to challenge expectations of what a Star Wars movie could be, but with Disney keeping a tight grip on the thing, how could he?

I speculate here, but, without Disney's push, he could have...
...killed off Finn, lending massive weight to his arc from coward to hero
...had Rey turn dark, Kylo turn light, or have both forge their own faction - giving the otherwise epic throne room scene some consequences and dramatic weight
...made Poe face a court martial or worse for his undisciplined actions, causing a rift in the rebel forces

Now, do I think he still would have bungled Luke - yes. There are lots of flaws he probably would have left (Poe/Finn adventure sidelined for Poe/Rose(!?) adventure, slow speed car chase, Luke, etc.), but they wouldn't have seemed as bad if the rest was better. They also might not have leaned on him to put in a bunch of glib irony and semi-meta humour ala superhero films, which might have spared us the lightsabre shoulder toss and other awful moments.

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He'll probably get it because of all the people going to see Knives Out and expecting a classic detective film. Also because Kathleen Kennedy somehow still has a job.

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Hiring this guy to direct another SW film would be like hammering the last nail into a coffin. Bob Iger knows this. Ruin Johnson will never ever ever touch anything SW related again.

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I hope you are correct about this. The Last Jedi ruined any interest I might have in future Star Wars films.

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