The reasoning behind Abrams for TFA is clear. He directed one of the best Mission: Impossible movies and successfully re-booted the Star Trek films for a general audience. I believe his deficiencies as a writer lead him to botch the endings of his shows and movies, but when he’s not writing, his movies are quite good. Super8 is a lovely film up until the end.

Rian Johnson is a great choice of course. Brick is wonderful, Looper is clever and interesting. Enough said.

Trevorrow is much less reliable in this regard, since although his films have been decent in terms of broad audience appeal, he seems incapable of writing certain types of characters. Romance in both of his previous feature films has been an issue for me, and if the reviews for his latest are any indication, he hasn’t improved in the portrayal of female characters in general. If TFA taught us anything about the director’s tendencies, it is that the movie is very much a mirror of the instincts of the director for good or bad. I have no faith in Trevorrow to create a worthy third installment of this trilogy.