I don’t really have anything specific I’d like to see in the next films aside from a bit more explanation about the First Order. If it’s done well, it’s done well.

If somebody put a gun to my head, I would say:

I’d like to see Rey have a REAL brush with the dark side. I don’t want her to turn (and I doubt Disney would want that either (but again, if it’s done well then that’s fine)), but I want to see a struggle. Something along the lines of learning the dark side in order to use it AGAINST the villains is a fun trope used successfully in the past (think The One Ring or the old Tales of the Jedi and Dark Empire comics).

I want to see Luke being awesome. Think Zatoichi.

IF Kylo Ren is redeemed (which I don’t think is going to happen), have him do it in the second film and have him survive for the third, only because we haven’t seen that yet in a SW story. But I’d much rather him stay a baddie.

I think that’s it.

Oh wait! Have BB-8 do more than just roll around. I love that little droid, but he hasn’t done a whole lot besides follow the heroes. R2 was always very active in the adventures.

As for Rey and Luke learning the force, I always took it as A) Knowing that the force exists, and B) Having the willpower and faith to use it. How many of us tried to use the force to grab a toy when we were little kids? Unfortunately, the force doesn’t exist in the real world. 😛