To their credit too, the early discussions surrounding writer and director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars: Episode VII – The Last Jedi had pegged it as being similar very to Empire Strikes Back, as the darkest and most spiritual film of its respective trilogy.
Even during his appearance at Star Wars Celebration Orlando last week, Johnson went out of his way to assure fans that while, yes, The Last Jedi will be a darker film than The Force Awakens, it’s also going to be much more humorous than some fans might think.
So if most non-Star Wars films aren’t spared of such a lofty comparison, then there was no way The Last Jedi was going to be, and it appeared as though Johnson was aware of that from the very beginning.
The first teaser trailer for The Last Jedi didn’t waste much time proving those theories to be correct either, with the noticeably darker and more somber tone permeating throughout it, than the fun, rejuvenating feeling that Force Awakens had.