J.J. Abrams Comments On The Similarities Between THE FORCE AWAKENS And A NEW HOPE

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Just yesterday, I expressed my opinion that there was no real way of ever satisfying every Star Wars fan out there and used the conflicting reactions over The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi as an example how both entries appealed to different facets of the franchise and what fans wanted out of them. With the former film’s co-writer and director J.J. Abrams returning to the helm for the Sequel Trilogy’s final entry The Rise of Skywalker, it would stand to reason that fans who were disappointed by the noticeable parallels and similarities to A New Hope would bring up their concerns once more. As it so happens, Abrams got the message.

In a new video interview with Fandango, Abrams reflected on that criticism.

J.J. Abrams heard the grumbles of The Force Awakens being too similar to A New Hope, but he reminds fans that #TheRiseOfSkywalker will feel the influence of ALL the films that came before it. pic.twitter.com/m5K3dDTxSK

— Fandango (@Fandango) April 13, 2019

“We’ve gotten a lot of flack for people saying, ‘Oh, Force Awakens was just a remake of New Hope,’ and while that was something that obviously was never the intention, it was about introducing new characters [and] using the old, and there’s a natural sense in any hero’s journey of certain tenants will come to play.“

As to how he and co-writer Chris Terrio will approach the final entry of the Skywalker Saga, Abrams added:

“We very much wanted to make sure that we were not somehow inadvertently being so influenced by one thing, however the job of this film is to be the end of nine films. So we can’t ignore the fact that we come from Episodes I, II, III, IV, V, VI, VII, and VIII. So it wasn’t about, ‘Let’s choose that one. Let’s do a riff on that,’ it was more, ‘How do these stories culminate,’ and that was our job.“

I think Abrams has a very valid point. Star Wars films have always had a knack for ‘rhyming’ with themselves and in particular The Phantom Menace also shares similarities with A New Hope. Let’s see how The Rise of Skywalker will ultimately rhyme with the rest of the saga!

What do you think? Be sure to comment below!

SOURCE: Fandango via Twitter