'Last Jedi' director Rian Johnson describes seeing baby Yoda on 'The Mandalorian' set: 'It's so beautiful'

• Rian Johnson told Business Insider what it was like seeing baby Yoda face-to-face when he visited the set of "The Mandalorian."
• But "The Last Jedi" director is staying mum on if the "Star Wars" movie slated to come out in 2022 is one from his planned new trilogy, saying "I got no update."
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Long before we all set eyes on cute baby Yoda in the Disney Plus series, "The Mandalorian," "The Last Jedi" director Rian Johnson had already been face-to-face with it.

One of the perks of having made a "Star Wars" movie is you get a huge amount of access. And for Johnson, that meant visiting the set of "The Mandalorian" while season one was being made.

Along with chatting with the show's creator/executive producer, Jon Favreau, and fellow executive producer, Dave Filoni, he also got to check out the puppet that has become its star.

"On the set I saw baby Yoda," he told Business Insider while promoting his new movie "Knives Out" (in theaters November 27), adding that he's been waiting for the show to come out to finally drop that humble brag.

"It's so beautiful," he said of the creature.

Johnson admitted that because he'd been promoting "Knives Out," he hadn't gotten a chance to watch any of the show yet. But he added that being on the set of "The Mandalorian" got his creativity going on what he could do next in the "Star Wars" saga.

"It's like when you're a kid and have your toys out, it's like that but on a lifesize scale," Johnson said. "It was impossible to not think about things. It's inspiring. It's creatively invigorating to be in the middle of it."

But how Johnson exactly is involved in "Star Wars" going forward is very unclear.

After "The Last Jedi," it was announced that he would embark on making a brand new trilogy for the franchise, but since then there has been a lot of disruption with the franchise.

Disney CEO Bob Iger told the BBC that going forward there is a "less is more" path for the movies, as in the past "we made and released too many 'Star Wars' films over a short period of time." This came on the heels of the disappointing reaction to 2018's "Solo: A Star Wars Story." Then in late October, "Game of Thrones" creators David Benioff and D.B. Weiss exited their planned trilogy for "Star Wars." ("Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" opens December 20 and concludes the Skywalker saga.)

Johnson seems to still be standing, but isn't saying anything. When asked if the "Star Wars" movie Disney has slated for 2022 is one of his, he responded to Business Insider: "You're going to have to wait for them to announce whatever they are going to announce. I got no update."

On Wednesday, a story from The Hollywood Reporter said, citing "a source," that the movie slated for 2022 is not one of Johnson's projects.

The THR story also reported that going forward, along with Lucasfilm head Kathleen Kennedy watching over things, "Mandalorian" executive producers Favreau and Filoni will also have a lot to say on the franchise's future.

Johnson said a big takeaway on his trip to "The Mandalorian" set, outside of baby Yoda, was how much Filoni is locked into the "Star Wars" mythology.

"Filoni has got the soul of 'Star Wars,'" Johnson said. "He has got the heart of it."