Star Wars 8 director Rian Johnson teases what The First Order is up to at the beginning of The Last Jedi

The villainous First Order was dealt a heavy blow at the end of Star Wars: The Force Awakens with the destruction of Starkiller Base, but Star Wars: The Last Jedi director Rian Johnson says the organization is "not sitting on their hands" in the upcoming film.

Speaking to host Josh Gad during the Star Wars: The Last Jedi panel at Star Wars Celebration 2017, Johnson pointed out that although the destruction of the Death Star-like superweapon was "a big loss," the First Order did manage to take out the seat of power for the Republic.

"That's thrown the galaxy into chaos, and the First Order are jumping on that at the beginning of our movie," Johnson said. "Very aggressive, not sitting on their hands, making some big moves at the start of our film. Things are gonna get dire."

I don't know about you, but that's exactly what I wanted to hear. If The Last Jedi is going to live up to being the new trilogy's answer to The Empire Strikes Back, things are gonna have to take a turn for the worse as the bad guys retaliate against our heroes.

Keep an eye our Star Wars Celebration 2017 hub page for more news from the event as it happens.Directed by Rian Johnson and starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Laura Dern, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, and Benicio del Toro, Star Wars: The Last Jedi opens in cinemas on December 15, 2017.

Images: Lucasfilm / Disney  

Sam Prell

Sam is a former News Editor here at GamesRadar. His expert words have appeared on many of the web's well-known gaming sites, including Joystiq, Penny Arcade, Destructoid, and G4 Media, among others. Sam has a serious soft spot for MOBAs, MMOs, and emo music. Forever a farm boy, forever a '90s kid.