In today’s Star Wars fandom, there is no name more divisive than that of Rian Johnson. Mention his name and some will love him, some won’t care, but the trolls will come out in full force. Despite the fall out caused by The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson refuses to give up on Star Wars. Unconfirmed word continues to be that the Rian Johnson trilogy is still a go.

He simply needs to fulfill his reported Netflix deal to create two new Knives Out sequels for the streaming service. After that he hopes to return to a galaxy far, far away, but he also has something else in mind. This move might win him some support for his trilogy – if he can pull it off. Rian recently talked to Sariah Wilson, and she says he’s not giving up directing an episode of The Mandalorian.

Finding the Time

Sariah recently talked about her conversation with Rian Johnson and relayed his hopes to still helm an episode of the Disney+ hit. Rian’s schedule is dominated right now by the Knives Out sequel. She said the following:

“He said he was dying to, but that for him it’s all about scheduling. He’s been writing [Knives Out 2] and now he’s going to go directly into filming it. So it would be a matter of finding time to break away and do it. He said he has spoken to Dave Filoni about it.

Sariah Wilson

Rian even visited the set of The Mandalorian and loved all the new technology going into its creation. Sariah passed on the following anecdote:

“He said it was fascinating seeing the way that they’re shooting the show. [Rian] asked if I’d seen BTS stuff (of course I have). He said when he was standing there in that space and they did the thing where they moved the camera and the perspective on the screen shifted he said he almost fell over. You get vertigo. That it’s almost like virtual reality. That it’s fascinating and feels so real when you’re standing there. It’s really interesting to see how it translates onscreen.”

Sariah Wilson

We have now seen how wonderfully it translated. The big question might be how will this influence big movie production? Will the big screen movies use this to cut production? Use it for smaller shots that don’t require 10,000 ships? Or will they bypass it all together. No matter the case, Rian seems set on directing if he can only find the time. This might be the perfect idea as well.

Johnson Not Giving Up – The Perfect Segue

Johnson’s name may be poison amongst a part of the ‘fan’ base, but perhaps Disney+ can grant him an olive branch. I highly doubt Disney or Lucasfilm could hide Rian’s name from the episode he directs before it airs, but if he does direct an episode of The Mandalorian (or any of the other shows), its success could bring more people over to his side. People that did not like TLJ but liked his episode, might show more interest in his trilogy.

Between his Knives Out sequels and Disney already having the next few years already mapped out, there doesn’t seem to be a hurry on anybody’s part to get the Rian Trilogy made. Then again time can also heal wounds, so waiting to do it could also benefit his trilogy’s acceptance. Let’s hope Johnson’s not giving up pays off.