I’d really like to find an alternate reason for Kylo to search for the wayfinder, other than Palpatine’s message. I know some people have suggested that he might want to find the “source of Snoke’s power” or something, but I don’t really understand what that means. Another idea I’ve been thinking of recently is that he might be searching for Palpatine’s Final Order fleet, but that wouldn’t really mesh with Kylo’s line “What could you give me?” Maybe I could replace that line with something else, since his mouth is hidden behind his arm.

Either way, Palpatine’s reveal needs to be postponed, as much as possible. It’s so weird how the first scene in the final movie of a trilogy introduces a new villain completely out of the blue, and the final movie is focused on fighting him instead of the villains that have been set up the previous two movies. Postponing that scene by about 15 to 20 minutes would hopefully help fix this problem. Here’s what I’m thinking:

Change the opening crawl. Kylo is now searching for the Final Order fleet, in order to help quell the rebellions inspired by Luke’s heroic actions on Crait.
Theatrical opening scene, Kylo killing the Mustafar natives. Might want to add a brief insert shot of Vader’s castle somewhere. After Kylo gets the wayfinder, fade to black.
Transition to Falcon in hyperspace. Finn and Poe get the information from Boolio, and lightspeed skip to escape.
The next few scenes proceed as normal. Rey trains and has Vader-induced visions, Rey talks to Leia about her lack of concentration, Poe and Finn land and have an argument with Rey.
During the Resistance briefing scene, replace Poe’s dialogue. He now talks about Kylo searching for the Final Order fleet, which is hidden on a planet called Exogol. Cut all mentions of Palpatine’s return, since he hasn’t revealed himself at this point.
After Rey explains the wayfinders to Leia, cut to Kylo heading to Exegol. This is now the point where Palpatine reveals himself. His return has been set up in the previous scenes, and should now come as an actual shock to the audience, instead of being confusing and weird.
After Palpatine smiles evilly when Kylo agrees to his plans (remove him teasing Rey’s heritage), cut to the trio embarking on their journey. The stakes have been established, and it’s time to get on with the plot. The rest of the movie proceeds as normal, with some changes along the way.

I really hope something like this could work. If executed right, it could help the movie feel like an actual sequel to The Last Jedi, instead of some weird semi-standalone movie that doesn’t fit into anything. I’d appreciate some feedback on this.