I think the best way to solve the lack of introduction is to keep Maz’s transmission and end the scene when Rose and Finn give each other that “look” after Maz implies that her and the code break have been intimate. Then cut straight to the radar blip, stolen ship etc. That way in can be implied that DJ is who they are looking for. It will also fit with expectations/ reality theme of the film…
Yeah, I think meeting DJ for the first time on the stolen ship might not be too jarring after all.
For example, they left out how Rey got off the Supremacy entirely, and it doesn’t seem too out of place to never have addressed that. Kylo comes to and she’s just gone.
I’m also really looking forward to seeing TLJ again to see how much of Deus Ex BB-8 in the hangar can be removed…I’d really just like to have Finn “kill” Phasma (I don’t think she’s dead) and then have his next scene be the shuttle crashing on Crait.
It’s a shame the writers had to come up with the Canto Bight sequence. You’d think the Resistance, being a rebel group, would have their own slicers? The whole sequence just feels so tacked-on, and in a movie that, imo, ran for 30 minutes too long anyways. (Apologies to the people that liked it).