JJ Abrams Reveals That He’s Working Hard (Bet He Is!)

The word is out. During the D23 Expo Japan this weekend, was a special panel presentation dedicated to Marvel and Star Wars. Disney Marketing President Ricky Strauss (escorted by R2-D2 and C-3PO) spoke about the Disney Star Wars saga and introduced a special video greeting from J.J. Abrams.

In the greeting, Abrams revealed that he was hard at work co-writing the upcoming finale to the new Star Wars trilogy ahead of directing the film this summer.

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The D23 Expo 2018 Japan

The reveal that Abrams is still working on the writing for the film also explains why fans haven’t really gotten any clues as to what they might be able to expect for the film, though many have wondered if Abrams’ Episode 9 will course correct the absurd direction Rian Johnson took the trilogy toward in The Last Jedi.

There has been a lot of backlash against writer/director Johnson (under the guidance of Kathleen Kennedy) regarding the decisions he made with The Last Jedi’s story and how wasteful they have been with characters, especially Luke Skywalker.

Bizarrely, Johnson has no regrets about how he created his film.

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Remember we used to get excited about Star Wars?

While Abrams’ return to the Disney saga may see some of the threads from The Force Awakens woven into Episode 9, he’s been very outspoken about how he wants to take their franchise “elsewhere”.

Episode 9 starts filming this summer but it wasn’t the only STAR WARS-related news out of D23 Expo Japan. After Abrams’ message, fans got a taste of brand new, behind the scenes footage for Solo: A Star Wars Story.

Star Wars Episode 9 opens worldwide December 20, 2019. Solo: A Star Wars Story opens May 25th.