Director JJ Abrams calls out 'The Last Jedi' trolls for feeling threatened by women

Director JJ Abrams has blasted the trolls who criticised the Star Wars franchise for its focus on female characters in the recently-released The Last Jedi, saying they feel "threatened" by women.

The 51-year-old filmmaker, who helmed The Force Awakens and is on board to direct the Episode IX of the popular sci-fi series, said people today will nitpick anything today, thanks to social media.

"Their problem isn't Star Wars, their problem is being threatened. Star Wars is a big galaxy, and you can sort of find almost anything you want to in Star Wars. If you are someone who feels threatened by women and needs to lash out against them, you can probably find an enemy in Star Wars.

"You can probably look at the first movie that George (Lucas) did and say that Leia was too outspoken, or she was too tough. Anyone who wants to find a problem with anything can find the problem. The Internet seems to be made for that," Abrams told IndieWire.

The director added the flak received by the eighth chapter in the Star Wars did not affect his vision for Episode IX "in the least".

"I will say that the story of Rey and Poe and Finn and Kylo Ren - and if you look, there are three men and one woman, to those that are complaining that there are too many women in Star Wars - their story continues in a way that I couldn't be more excited about and cannot wait for people to see," he said.

The untitled Star Wars: Episode IX is scheduled to hit the screens on December 20, 2019.