Not to derail the topic, because I think it’s a worthwhile discussion but I’ve been fostering this idea in my mind about what could be done to alleviate the pacing of the first act. I’m sure people have brought this up before but what if the opening search for the Wayfinder in Mustafar is skipped over? No Star Wars movie has ever opened on a montage and even with the added establishing shots in Ascendant, it feels disorienting for me to jump around so many locations in such a short amount of time. What if the movie opens with Kylo Ren arriving on Exegol?
I’ve seen this done in the fan edit by reddit user StraightCutsNoChaser called The Third Cut and it was effective enough. The only thing is that the crawl would have to set up that new opening.
I’ve come up with this:
The spark of hope burns!
Following the heroic sacrifice
of Jedi Master Luke Skywalker,
the tyrannical FIRST ORDER
silences acts of insurrection
across an inspired galaxy.
As Rey, sole heir to the Jedi,
continues her training, General
Leia Organa dispatches secret
agents to gather intelligence
for the rising RESISTANCE.
Meanwhile, Supreme Leader
Kylo Ren follows clues left by
his former master to a hidden
location, sensing that it holds
a dark power that could be a
threat to his rule…
Later on, during Rey’s vision there could be added glimpses of Kylo Ren flying through the Nebula using the Wayfinder. This would explain why she’s suddenly studying the device in the Jedi texts whilst she waits for the Falcon to come back and it would also visually establish the Nebula and the Wayfinder in Kylo’s ship, which both things will pay off in the third act.
Now in retrospect, it can be inferred that the clue referred to in the crawl was the Wayfinder. You are able to cut out Mustafar and retain all the relevant plot material.
I think this way the movie doesn’t have to jump around as much and it doesn’t have to get the audience asking awkward questions about what the Wayfinder is, what is it doing on Mustafar, who is Kylo massacring and has the added bonus of motivating Rey looking up the Wayfinder on the Jedi texts.