The Rise of Skywalker’s Disappointing Reveals Break JJ Abrams’ Mystery Box

Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker dispels J.J. Abrams’ concept of mystery box storytelling. Despite what retrospective viewpoints might suggest, J.J. Abrams’ introduction to the world of Star Wars was a very strong one, with The Force Awakens garnering largely positive reviews upon release, many of which spoke of Episode VII in glowing terms. Unfortunately, Disney’s Star Wars sequel trilogy would find itself navigating more turbulent waters from that point on, with both The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker attracting wildly mixed reactions, and cleaving the fan base in two.

With The Last Jedi, one half of the audience praised Rian Johnson’s more subversive and unique take on the Star Wars format, while the rest decried the breaking of tradition and the deviation from what Abrams had set out in The Force Awakens. When Abrams replaced Colin Trevorrow for the final installment, most of what Johnson put in place was undone. Once again, a section of the audience hated the overstuffed, rushed exposition dump of The Rise of Skywalker, but others were pleased to return to more familiar ground and praised Abrams for not continuing in the vein of The Last Jedi. There are some who loved or hated both, but generally speaking, those who liked one movie did not enjoy the other.

When it comes to criticism aimed towards The Rise of Skywalker, one of the biggest is the quality of the reveals. The Star Wars sequel trilogy dangled several major mysteries for fans to ponder, including Rey’s unknown parentage and the backstory of the enigmatic Supreme Leader Snoke. The Rise of Skywalker answered these questions, and neither solve was universally loved. Does this break the J.J. Abrams’ vision of “mystery box” storytelling?

J.J. Abrams’ Mystery Box Theory

The term “mystery box” comes from a J.J. Abrams TED talk the filmmaker delivered in 2007. In his speech, Abrams argued that all stories are essentially a series of questions and mysteries leading the audience from beginning to end. Somewhat ironically, he uses the original Star Wars film as an example – “who is the woman fiddling with R2-D2?” “Who is Obi-Wan Kenobi?” But Abrams also brings onstage a real, physical magic box from his childhood that was never opened. The director uses this nostalgic toy to argue that the creation of mystery and the sense of potential is sometimes the most exciting and engaging part of a story. Young Abrams didn’t open his $15 magic box because the thought of what might be inside was more interesting than actually ripping the thing open and finding out.

Abrams has applied this concept to his movies and TV shows over the years, but with mixed results. An incredibly effective example of the mystery box at work can be found in Cloverfield, which Abrams produced. The mystery box here is the origin of the titular monster and how it came to arrive on Earth. Throughout the film, that mystery intrigues and fascinates, but the box is never opened. In his TED talk, Abrams stated that the true purpose of the mystery box is to elicit character development and emotion. Where Cloverfield succeeds is by capturing its audience with the mystery of the monster, but never needing to open the box in order to develop the characters. Where Clover came from has no bearing on the plight of the protagonists or the impact of the monster arriving in New York City.

Examples of less effective mystery boxes can be found in Lost. Listing all of Lost‘s boxes would take far too long, but some of the biggest include the importance of Walt, the meaning of the numbers, and the true nature of the island, and these three mystery boxes highlight three different pitfalls with Abrams’ theory. Lost‘s Walt mystery box wasn’t just left unopened but abandoned altogether, proving that a box needs to stay present in the story in order to be effective. Lost‘s strange recurring sequence of numbers proved that, sometimes, a mystery does need to be opened in order to satisfy viewers. And lastly, the island was so integral in the development of characters such as Locke, Jack and Hurley, that not opening the box on its true purpose hindered character development, rather than facilitating it.

All The Mystery Boxes In The Force Awakens

As the first chapter in a new trilogy of Star Wars movies, J.J. Abrams wasted no time in sprinkling his mystery boxes throughout The Force Awakens. Some of these are short-term, opened before the credits roll. Kylo Ren’s parents, the whereabouts of Luke Skywalker and Rey’s connection to the Force are all introduced as mystery boxes and successfully engage viewers throughout the movie. All three serve their purpose, and are opened without any problems. Most fans were completely on board with Kylo being Ben Solo, Luke on Ahch-To and Rey beginning a new generation of Jedi.

Abrams also includes mystery boxes that aren’t designed to be opened at all. For example, the reason behind Han and Leia’s break up is never fully revealed, and nor is the comedy mystery of C-3PO’s red arm. Both are addressed in wider Star Wars media, but The Force Awakens itself keeps both mystery boxes firmly shut. These are effective examples of mystery box storytelling; the intrigue behind Han and Leia’s separation is more important than the actual detail of why they parted, especially after Han’s death. The break-up mystery box creates opportunities for character development and doesn’t need to be opened in order to do so.

Trouble arises when The Force Awakens creates mystery boxes that will need to be opened at some point in the future. The true nature of Supreme Leader Snoke, for example. The presence of Andy Serkis’ disfigured villain is a great tease for the sequel trilogy and creates all the desired intrigue and speculation, but in order for the villain to work, the audience does eventually need to find out where he came from. The same goes for Rey’s parentage, the most controversial and divisive mystery box in The Force Awakens. From the very beginning, a shroud of importance is cast of Rey’s history, indicating to viewers that while her mother and father will remain unknown for now, they bear some overall significance to the story. Again, this is a mystery box that needs to be opened in order for Rey to fully develop as a character.

The Rise Of Skywalker’s Disappointing Mystery Box Openings

And therein lies the problem with the heavy emphasis J.J. Abrams’ stories place on mystery boxes – sometimes you just need to open the damn things, and fans aren’t necessarily going to like what’s inside. Perhaps a young J.J. would’ve opened his beloved box of magic tricks and been left bitterly disappointed by a flimsy plastic wand and a dog-eared deck of cards. The very nature of the mystery box Abrams bought from that fateful magic shop is luck – a gamble that the customer may or may not enjoy the contents. As an adult, Abrams argues that the feeling of mystery was better than ever knowing for sure, but that’s only because he didn’t need to open the box. By placing such significance on the Snoke and Rey mystery boxes in The Force Awakens, Abrams was like a contestant opening the final red box on Deal or No Deal, leaving himself open to either glory or defeat.

Rey being a Palpatine was a very contentious decision. The twist appeared to come out of nowhere, contradicted The Last Jedi and changed the emphasis of the character from a plucky nobody to a naturally gifted Force user and an inherently important figure in the galaxy. Revealing Palpatine as the architect of the First Order and Snoke as a mere puppet wasn’t much better. The explanation behind his return was weak (or, indeed, non-existent) and the way in which Palpatine was reintroduced to the Star Wars world felt rushed and underdeveloped.

J.J. Abrams uses two types of mystery boxes to great effect in his Star Wars movies – short-term boxes opened within the space of one film, and boxes that don’t need opening at all. Where The Rise of Skywalker falls down is with the third type – the boxes that do need to be opened. By allowing fans to imagine their own theories and ideas behind Snoke and Rey’s parents, expectations rose to almost unattainable levels, much like Lost‘s “4, 8, 15, 16, 23, 42” years before. The Rise of Skywalker also fails to properly differentiate between the mystery boxes that need opening and those that don’t, and Palpatine’s return is a prime example of this. Abrams never explains how the villain survived, and this prevents the audience from fully investing in his reappearance.

Compare the mystery boxes of the Star Wars sequels to Darth Vader being Luke’s father in the original trilogy – one of the best and most heralded movie twists of all time. Luke’s parentage was never a mystery box; fans thought they knew Anakin’s fate, and then The Empire Strikes Back caught the world by surprise, leaving the final film to fill in the gaps. But the Darth Vader twist may not have become so iconic if the mystery was teased heavily throughout A New Hope and The Empire Strikes Back and eventually revealed halfway through The Return of the Jedi.

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It could be argued that J.J. Abrams’ mystery box theory was broken long before The Rise of Skywalker came along. It could also be said that the mystery boxes established in The Force Awakens were damaged and left out in the rain by The Last Jedi, which killed off Snoke and claimed Rey’s parents were nobody special. But whatever angle The Rise of Skywalker is approached from, it’s hard to deny that the Star Wars sequels ultimately fell on the wrong side of the perilously thin line between intriguing mystery boxes and deliberate, frustratingly vague storytelling.

About The Author

Craig Elvy
(3631 Articles Published)

Craig first began contributing to Screen Rant in 2016, several years after graduating college, and has been ranting ever since, mostly to himself in a darkened room. Having previously written for various sports and music outlets, Craig’s interest soon turned to TV and film, where a steady upbringing of science fiction and comic books finally came into its own.
Craig has previously been published on sites such as Den of Geek, and after many coffee-drenched hours hunched over a laptop, part-time evening work eventually turned into a full-time career covering everything from the zombie apocalypse to the Starship Enterprise via the TARDIS.

Since joining the Screen Rant fold, Craig has been involved in breaking news stories and mildly controversial ranking lists, but now works predominantly as a features writer.
Jim Carrey is Craig’s top acting pick and favorite topics include superheroes, anime and the unrecognized genius of the High School Musical trilogy.

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