Not too long ago Star Wars: The Force Awakens actor Adam Driver, aka Kylo Ren, compared Episode VIII to Empire Strikes Back. Yeah, about that.
Originally talking to Collider, Driver had been asked about the script to Rian Johnson's Episode VIII. He replied:
It”s great. It”s similar to how The Empire Strikes Back has a different tone. For that people always go “oooh, it”s dark” but I don”t know that it necessarily is. It”s just different in tone in a way that I think is great and necessary but also very clear. He trusts [that] his audience is ready for nuance and ambiguity. He”s not dumbing anything down for someone and that”s really fun to play.
A lot of headlines at the time simply read “Adam Driver Compares Episode VIII to Empire Strikes Back” or “Star Wars: Episode VIII Is Like Empire Strikes Back.” Those are accurate but not a complete assessment of his quote. That's what the articles themselves are for, after all.
Honestly, from where I sit, this brief quote wasn't really misconstrued (at least compared to how I've seen other news stretched) but speaking with Vanity Fair, the actor clarified those comments after he was asked whether he predicted the response.
“No, no, and that”s not even what I said. What I said was the tone of it was different, I didn”t say that it was gonna be in the vein of [it]-I was using it as an example, so poor example,” he clarified. ”Next time I should say-I”m trying to think of another sequel to a movie that”s good. When I read the script, it was not what I expected, in the best of ways.”
But this imperative parallel is still definitely happening, right?