The more I hear from Rian Johnson, the more pissed off I get. I get the feeling like he just went off and did his own thing with little direction or consultation from anyone and his response to what will happen in the next movie is "well JJ will have to figure that one out".
It's quite fascinating to me how people are making these assumptions and making it so personal against Rian.
From everything I've read...
He was in talks with JJ and was writing while JJ was shooting TFA (he was given the TFA script and was watching dailies as he wrote).
He consulted with JJ and had talks about the significance of certain things in TFA (IE- Rey's parents were decided when they shot TFA)
JJ was an executive producer on VIII.
JJ himself gave him some notes, but Rian said JJ was excited by the choices he was making.
Greg Grunberg said that JJ was so impressed with the script for VIII that he was jealous he wasn't directing it, which was a rare thing for him to say.
JJ himself is accepted the offer to return, so clearly he doesn't think the story is broken beyond repair and he feels he'll be able to wrap it up in a satisfying way. I'm assuming the best of JJ here that he's doing it to tell a story he wants to tell and not just a paycheck, which I think is fair...who needs that kinda pressure if your heart isn't in it?
There are quotes to back up all of the above, but I don't have time to Google it all now. I've been paying close attention to this side of the story though. I'm just kind of stunned by how many people are jumping right to "Rian Johnson hated TFA and is a total a-hole!". I'm seeing it all over the place. It's honestly hilarious to me.