Rian Johnson has explained the structural parallels between his upcoming film, Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi, and Irvin Kershner’s Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back.
As part of EW‘s Star Wars: The Last Jedi cover story, Rian Johnson said that there are certain structural parallels between his film and The Empire Strikes Back, but also that Episode VIII is vastly different compared to the original trilogy’s second installment.
At D23 Expo 2017 last month, the director explained that The Last Jedi would share some resemblance with The Empire Strikes Back since both movies are middle chapters in their respective trilogies, but he had also stated that the movie has more in common with Richard Marquand’s Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi than anything else.
Johnson notes that there are two distinct similarities between The Last Jedi and The Empire Strikes Back.