If you thought the debate over Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) was dead and buried, think again. Director Rian Johnson has reignited backlash after openly linking the divisive film to Christianity and his own religious upbringing.Released as the middle chapter of Disney’s sequel trilogy, The Last Jedi upended long-standing franchise expectations. It reframed Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) as a disillusioned exile and questioned the Jedi Order’s moral authority, choices that immediately split the fan base.Credit: LucasfilmOthers took issue with the film’s broader themes. By interrogating hero worship and tradition, The Last Jedi appeared to some fans as intentionally subversive, more interested in dismantling the saga’s foundations than celebrating them.For many critics, the frustration stemmed from how the film challenged legacy characters and mythmaking. Luke’s arc, the treatment of the Force, and the dismissal of familiar tropes felt like a rejection of what Star Wars was “supposed” to be.Much of the backlash focused on Rey (Daisy Ridley). Some fans rejected her rapid mastery of the Force, accusing the film of sidelining established lore in favor of a new protagonist they felt was underdeveloped or unearned.Credit: LucasfilmOthers bristled at the growing emotional connection between Rey and Kylo Ren. The film’s Force-bonded conversations and moral ambiguity unsettled viewers who preferred clearer lines between hero and villain.For many critics, the frustration stemmed from how the film challenged legacy characters and mythmaking. By questioning hero worship, tradition, and the Jedi Order itself, The Last Jedi positioned itself as a deliberate break from what some fans believed Star Wars should be.In recent interviews, the film’s director, Rian Johnson, has leaned into those interpretations. He has spoken more openly about how belief systems, moral failure, and spiritual questioning shaped his approach – now explicitly tying those ideas to Christianity.Credit: LucasfilmRian Johnson on Faith, Belief, and ‘Star Wars’In an interview with Polygon to discuss his newest film, Wake Up Dead Man (2025), Johnson reflected on how religion has long influenced his storytelling. While promoting the latest Knives Out sequel, he acknowledged thematic overlap with The Last Jedi.Johnson described Wake Up Dead Man as a serious exploration of faith and hypocrisy, focusing on how religious belief can be distorted. Those ideas closely echo The Last Jedi’s critique of rigid doctrine and misplaced reverence.“Absolutely, on a couple of different levels,” Johnson said when asked whether the two films shared intentional parallels. He explained that Star Wars functioned as a formative myth during his Christian upbringing, and that these values shine through in his Star Wars film.Credit: Lucasfilm“Anyone who grew up with Star Wars deeply rooted in their childhood — it’s almost a cliché to say it feels like a religion,” Johnson said. “I grew up very Christian, so when I was a kid, I was parsing Star Wars through my faith and through my Christianity. It’s all tied up in that. Very naturally, if I’m telling that story, it’s going to be filtered through the values I grew up with.”Johnson emphasized that his work is driven by questioning belief rather than preserving it unquestioned.He also rejected the idea that backlash should deter challenging material, claiming that the goal was to trigger some kind of divisive conversation with the Star Wars fandom. “I wasn’t afraid of it per se,” Johnson said. “Having grown up a Star Wars fan, I know that thing where something challenges it, and I know the recoil against that. I know how there can be infighting in the world of Star Wars. But I also know that the worst sin is to handle it with kid gloves.”Credit: LucasfilmJohnson added, “The worst sin is to be afraid of doing anything that shakes it up. Because every Star Wars movie going back to Empire [Strikes Back] and onward shook the box and rattled fans, and got them angry, and got them fighting, and got them talking about it. And then for a lot of them, got them loving it and coming around on it eventually.”Fans Lash Out After Rian Johnson InterviewAs is often the case in the Star Wars fandom, reactions were divisive.One user wrote, “If Star Wars is like Christianity, then what Rian Johnson did to it was definitely blasphemy.” Another added, “I shouldn’t be surprised that Roundhead Rian understands Christianity as well as he understands Star Wars.”Credit: LucasfilmSome responses were more blunt. “Which is why he ruined it,” one post read, while another claimed Johnson “should keep his big mouth shut.” Others mocked his comments outright, with one user calling his films “shi**y” and irredeemable.Others seem to have better understood Johnson’s point.For those of you misinterpreting this, RJ brought his departure from the fundamentalism in Christian to this story, not weaving evangelical values into Star Wars. Luke’s arc is about dropping the baggage of fundamental Christianity that’s so prevalent. “The ancient texts”— Dustin Ginn (@DustinGinn) December 14, 2025“For those of you misinterpreting this, RJ brought his departure from the fundamentalism in [Christianity] to this story, not weaving evangelical values into Star Wars,” one X user explained. “Luke’s arc is about dropping the baggage of fundamental Christianity that’s so prevalent. ‘The ancient texts.'”The renewed controversy arrives years after Johnson was announced as the director of a standalone Star Wars trilogy, which is now seemingly dead in the water (although Johnson told Variety that it was only ever really a concept).That project has yet to come to fruition after Johnson shifted focus to the Knives Out franchise, leaving his future in the galaxy far, far away unresolved.Are you a fan of The Last Jedi?The post ‘Star Wars’ Director Rian Johnson Sparks Debate by Defending ‘The Last Jedi,’ Linking Film to Christianity appeared first on Inside the Magic.