Writer and director JJ Abrams has worked on some of the biggest entertainment franchises of all time, including Mission Impossible, Star Wars, and Star Trek. Recently, he was asked about getting involved in such major franchises and how he feels about the pressure that comes along with it.

　　Appearing on the SmartLess podcast, Abrams was asked what made him say yes to working on big projects like Star Trek and Star Wars when he knew it would come with a lot of scrutiny and criticism from some corners of the community. It is "hubris and stupidity" that fueled him to jump into these projects, Abrams said.

　　"When you get involved in something that pre-exists you, you're immediately on your heels. Because no matter what you do, someone is taking it personally," he explained. "There is no quiet. No internal thoughts any more. And so, that is a f**king nightmare. That aspect is awful. But the truth it, and I am not joking when I say hubris. Because to say yes to something that is not just enormous and a religion for people but also that has a release date and not a script."

　　Another element of working on major franchises in the internet age is that Abrams' words can get twisted, he observed. "I'm not complaining about this, but I know it's common. When you're involved in things that matter to people, no matter what you say--no matter what you say--it is somehow taken out of context and spun," he said. "There are so many reporters that I love and admire, especially in this moment when journalists are getting their asses kicked. It's more important than ever to celebrate them. And yet there are some that are just kind of clickbait whores, let's be honest."

　　Abrams brought up an example of a reporter who asked him something along the lines of, "'What do you say to people who hated The Last Jedi because they think it's feminist propaganda or something?'" Abrams, who produced that movie, was left dumbfounded.

　　"I was like, 'What?' I think if you hate a Star Wars movie because ... you probably have bigger problems. The headline was like, 'JJ Abrams: If You Didn't Like The Last Jedi, You're Anti-Feminist' or something. I was like, 'Holy mother of God," he said.

　　Abrams directed 2009's Star Trek reboot for Paramount and its 2013 sequel Into Darkness, and was then hired by Disney to re-launch the Star Wars film series with The Force Awakens in 2015. Rian Johnson directed the second of the new trilogy, The Last Jedi, before Abrams finished things off with The Rise of Skywalker as its director.

　　Abrams, his partner Katie McGrath, and their Bad Robot company recently signed a lucrative deal with Warner Bros. to produce new content for HBO Max and other places. One of Bad Robot's shows, a spin-off of The Shining called Overlook, is potentially moving to Netflix after HBO Max passed. Abrams, who also co-created Lost and Alias, is currently producing a sci-fi TV show called Demimonde for HBO.

　　Bad Robot also runs a game studio, and earlier this year, the company announced that it had raised $40 million to help fund the development of a new AAA IP.