J.J. Abrams is coming to the defense of his new sequel The Rise of Skywalker. The highly anticipated finale finally hit theaters this weekend and has been receiving mixed reviews from fans and critics. Are some Star Wars fans not getting something? Is there a problem with the fandom? "No, I would say that they're right," Abrams says. "The people who love it more than anything are also right." So, it looks like everybody is right about how they feel about the movie. There are SPOILERS for The Rise of Skywalker below, so read ahead at your own risk.

The Rise of Skywalker has been criticized for throwing in too much Star Wars fan service. One popular meme making the rounds even jokingly reveals Reddit was a co-writer on the movie since there is so much fan service. J.J. Abrams was asked about pleasing everybody, which he believes is impossible. He says, "I was asked just seven hours ago in another country, 'So how do you go about pleasing everyone?' I was like' What...?'" Abrams doesn't think that he tried to please everybody. "Not to say that that's what anyone should try to do anyway, but how would one go about it? Especially with Star Wars."

J.J. Abrams and The Rise of Skywalker co-writer Chris Terrio knew from the start that their decisions were either going to be praised or torched by Star Wars fans. Again, Abrams says, "And they're all right," about the fans who take issue with the movie. Obviously, everybody is entitled to their own opinions, but Abrams seems to be barely defending the movie he just put out and that might make even more people angry. The director chose not to explain some of the key elements of the sequel and fans, even if they liked the movie, are not happy about that aspect. "There is an MO of either: 'It's exactly as I see it, or you're my enemy,'" Abrams states. "It's a crazy thing that there's such a norm that seems to be void of nuance and compassion - and this is not [a phenomenon] about Star Wars, this is about everything."

The Rise of Skywalker picks up where Rian Johnson's The Last Jedi left off, though there is a small time jump. J.J. Abrams was tasked with finishing the Skywalker Saga and responding to the decisions that Johnson made. Fans have criticized the latest movie for retconning the last installment, but the director doesn't agree. Abrams states that he worked pretty closely with Johnson to craft the latest story. He explains.

"One of the many brilliant things that Rian did in The Last Jedi was give Luke an arc. He learned something. He got somewhere. So at the end of that film he recommitted to the thing at the very beginning of the film he was rejecting, so the idea that even Luke Skywalker can learn something. I think for a kid to hear Luke Skywalker say I was wrong, I think is a beautiful thing. And I think it's something we could all probably do with, a little bit."

In the end, The Rise of Skywalker was going to be divisive no matter what. There was no way that everybody was going to agree on the decisions that J.J. Abrams and Chris Terrio made, so they started with a disadvantage. Regardless, even if some fans really love the movie, there are moments that could have been executed a lot better instead of making us dig through future comic book releases. The Q&A with J.J. Abrams was first reported by Vanity Fair.