‘The Goal Is Never to Divide.’ Last Jedi Director Addresses Backlash From Star Wars Fans

The Last Jedi may have debuted to the second-biggest domestic box office opening of all time—behind only its Star Wars predecessor, The Force Awakens—but it was met by mixed reviews from moviegoers.

While critics seemed to love The Last Jedi, scoring it at 93 percent on Rotten Tomatoes, hardcore Star Wars fans were more divided — Episode VIII has only a 53 percent audience rating on the site.

However, director Rian Johnson has said that he believes the controversy surrounding the movie was an inevitable result of the saga moving forward. After being asked what he thinks of Jedi‘s polarizing nature, Johnson took to Twitter to explain his stance.

“The goal is never to divide or make people upset, but I do think the conversations that are happening were going to have to happen at some point if [Star Wars] is going to grow, move forward and stay vital,” Johnson tweeted on Thursday.