I still can’t help but think the film would be so much more interesting if the First Order were the resistance against the Republic and the Republic had Death Stars.
The bad guys would be preaching their message of hate from a position of weakness and the good guys would overstep their ethical and moral responsibility leading to more converts.
Hollywood could do with making that sort of film at the moment and it’s a combination we haven’t seen in a Star Wars trilogy so far.
I was hoping for and expecting this to be the case. It would mirror our current world very well.