J.J. Abrams onThe Last Jediscene that surprised him the most

So I can see why Rian chose to do that with some of these characters.

But I guess for me the biggest surprise, weirdly, was Phasma dying the way she did.

Previously, Abrams gave his reaction to reading Johnsons middle-film script for the first time.

I got to watch cuts of the movie as he was working on it, as an audience member.

That was the thing that I thought: Oh, that was unexpected.

And thats the thingTheLast Jediundeniably succeeds at, which is constant subversion of expectation.

Abrams has also assuredThe Last Jedidid not derail anything for the upcomingThe Rise of Skywalker.

Episode VIIIdidnt really derail anything that we were thinking about.

That was the thing that was the most fun, having the group together.

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalkeropens in U.S. theaters on December 20.