In my opinion, these two threads should have been created right after TLJ was released, when it became evident how polarising it is. This might have shortened some of the drawn out, fruitless arguments.
This said, I like how polarising TLJ is. It turns the comparably safe TFA on its head and takes the ST in a new direction. I’m curious for the final chapter.
I’m feeling pessimistic about Episode IX due to Abrams returning, as he’s a very play-it-safe kinda guy. The only movies where he was involved that I actually enjoyed are Armaggedon (he was one of the scriptwriters IIRC) and the very first Cloverfield movie which he produced. Other than that I consider him to be the popcorn guy’s Paul Thomas Anderson, in that both make totally insipid movies yet both are praised by their respective audiences as genius visionaries. If Chris Terrio was the sole scriptwriter I’d be more optimistic, but I’m sure Abrams will botch it all up as co-writer after all as he, alongside Lawrence Kasdan, scrapped Michael Arndt’s original script for TFA and then both proceeded to a copy-paste job.
For me, JJ is strange choice to wrap the Sequel Trilogy up - in my mind he seems more suited to creative ideas and intriguing plots and devices to draw the viewer at the start of a project - rather than finishing one. Hopefully he’ll knock it out of the park - yet given where the current story is in the Trilogy - he has a lot to do and accomplish in the final film…
I agree, except he’s coming back around to a thing he already started. So he has a strong creative (and emotional) attachment to this story, and has surely been thinking a lot about it’s direction in the years since he left.