The only reason I wasn't rambling more in comments was because I want to make a whole separate post about what the show is "about!"

To be clear, I'm a fan of Lord & Miller — I think Into the Spider-Verse is one of the best animated movies and one of the best comic book movies ever made, period — and I'm even a fan of what they COULD have done with Solo, i.e. made a light and funny adventure story that didn't take itself too seriously. But I don't believe for a second the simplistic internet take on what went down, which is that Kathleen Kennedy and/or Disney were too draconian and controlling to understand individual creators' unique vision.

What I think is a lot more likely is that the people who became well-known for making Lego Movies, 21 Jump Street, and Into the Spider-Verse, approached Solo as another opportunity to make more meta-commentary on another beloved franchise. Even if it's done sincerely and genuinely, it's still not a good tonal fit for what they wanted from the "side story" movies. I can imagine it being tonally closer to the Lego Star Wars animation, which is done out of love, and is perfectly entertaining, but just doesn't fit. I don't see why more people would rather ignore that in favor of thinking that Kennedy and Disney are evil or old-fashioned or tone-deaf. Especially since Taika Waititi is still being treated as a golden boy — he still insists on bringing his own voice to the franchise and making it wacky, but also acknowledges how and were he needs to make it fit.

Which I think is all relevant to JJ Abrams, since I think TONALLY he's a perfect fit for the sequels, and The Force Awakens is still near-flawless in my estimation, but the story in Rise of Skywalker was just unacceptable. I actually enjoyed Rise of Skywalker the second time I watched it, because I knew what to expect and could just ignore the story and instead focus on how the (bad) story was being told. If I were going to blame anyone, I'd blame Colin Trevorrow for whiffing it so bad that Abrams had to be brought back in to do a relative rush job on the conclusion of a 9-part, 45-year-long series. That "leaked original draft" of the screenplay SUCKS, imo, and is one of the only things worse than the actual screenplay that we got.

I'm not sure what to think about Rian Johnson's seeming absence from Star Wars news. I wouldn't blame him for not wanting to stay involved since Star Wars fans collectively suck, and it's a thankless job. And it seems like he's brought what he wanted to bring to the franchise? I kind of would rather him continue to make Knives Out movies! Or maybe Star Wars murder mysteries? There are some elements of The Last Jedi that are some of the best in the entire series (the throne room battle in particular), but it's also ultimately not a great tonal fit. I still say it's a Battlestar Galactica story, not a Star Wars story.