J.J. Abrams Says You 'Have to Be Grateful' for Angry 'Star Wars' Fans

J.J. Abrams, director of both Star Wars: The Force Awakens and the upcoming Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, just spoke out about the surprising benefit of angry fans. After a fractured year with irate fans over such shows as Game of Thrones, it might come as a surprise that the director wishes to see the silver lining in criticism.

According to ComicBook.com, Abrams spoke to Marvelous TV at the D23 Expo and discussed the Star Wars fandom, both the positive and negative parts. "You just have to be grateful for them, because you don't want to be working on something no-one cares about," he explained. "And you have to understand that they've got their opinions and, of course, you have to value them. You're never going to please everyone, you have to know that going in, and just do the best you can. I'm nothing but thankful as someone who considers myself a fan."

After Star Wars: The Last Jedi was hit with some scathing criticism to say the very least, fans speculated over the idea of Abrams taking later films in a different direction, but he was clear that Rian Johnson's installment wouldn't effect his.

"The story that we're telling, the story that we started to conceive when we did The Force Awakens was allowed to continue," Abrams shared. "Episode VIII didn't really derail anything that we were thinking about."

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker hits theaters Dec. 20. Here's to hoping, for at least Abrams' part, that the film is received better than its predecessor.