Just ahead of The Rise of Skywalker arriving in theaters, director Rian Johnson has some thoughts about the creative process. Specifically, the director behind The Last Jedi feels it's a mistake to cater to fans. That's not to say making fans happy is a mistake, but Johnson simply doesn't feel the goal of the creatives should be to please fandoms.

Given the conversation that is likely to ensue in the coming weeks, these comments are, to say the least, interesting. Especially as the first Star Wars 9 reviews flood in after we got The Rise of Skywalker early reactions after the premiere on Monday.

As Star Wars fans are surely aware at this point, The Last Jedi went on to become perhaps the most divisive movie in the history of the franchise. Rian Johnson subverted virtually any and all fan expectations and provided a great many surprises. For some, that worked. For others, not so much. Now, in a recent interview, we get a little window into Johnson's thinking, which helps to explain why he approached Episode VIII the way he did. Here's what he had to say about it.

"I think approaching any creative process with [making fandoms happy] would be a mistake that would lead to probably the exact opposite result. Even my experience as a fan, you know if I'm coming into something, even if it's something that I think I want, if I see exactly what I think I want on the screen, it's like 'oh, okay,' it might make me smile and make me feel neutral about the thing and I won't really think about it afterwards, but that's not really going to satisfy me."

These comments from Rian Johnson are particularly poignant given the divisive early response to director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Based on the early social media reactions and reviews, those who loved The Last Jedi probably aren't going to love what Abrams has done here. The phrase "fan service" has been thrown around a lot. It's easy to see how these comments are going to be amplified in the coming Weeks. Johnson continued.

"I want to be shocked, I want to be surprised, I want to be thrown off-guard, I want to have things recontextualized, I want to be challenged as a fan when I sit down in the theater...What I'm aiming for every time I sit down in a theater is to have the experience [I had] with 'Empire Strikes Back,' something that's emotionally resonant and feels like it connects up and makes sense and really gets to the heart of what this thing is and in a way that I never could have seen coming."

Even in The Force Awakens J.J. Abrams was channelling a lot of familiar energy, as the movie closely mirrors A New Hope. Yet, at the time, it was just assumed this was to help reintroduce the franchise to the masses. Now? Things are different.

Whatever side of the line one falls on, it's important to realize that Rian Johnson did this interview before Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker held its premiere. He doesn't appear to be digging at J.J. Abrams. He's just sharing his thoughts on the creative process and the franchise. Still, it seems Lucasfilm is going to be in an unenviable position moving forward, that much is certain. Cater to fans? Or let filmmakers do what they do best, and hope for the best? This news comes to us via Radio.com.