J.J. Abrams Explains the Difference Between 'Star Wars' and 'Star Trek' Fans

After a Back to the Future-themed show last month, Jimmy Kimmel dedicated an entire episode of Jimmy Kimmel Live! to Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Monday night.

Besides director J.J. Abrams, nearly the entire lead cast — John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, and Adam Driver — appeared on the show. There were a whole lot of teases about what Abrams is about to unleash upon the world on December 18, but anybody looking for any definitive bombshells about the movie is looking in the wrong place. Still, Abrams spilled the beans about what it’s like to be at the helm of such a huge franchise by explaining the difference — or lack thereof — between Star Wars and Star Trek fans.

Abrams was quick to shoot down Kimmel’s comment that Star Wars fans were more aggressive than Trek fans, admitting there are more of them (including himself). But he did say Star Wars fans were frightening in a passive aggressive way. “You get a lot of people coming up to you and saying ‘Oh, hey, I love Star Wars,’ and my response to that is ‘Thank you, I had nothing to do with it.’” And continued by explaining, “What they’re really saying underneath is ‘If you screw this up I’ll kill you.’”

The comment was in jest, but you can kind of see the type of pressure Abrams is facing with bringing one of the biggest franchises ever back to the big-screen.

And there were more great clips where that came from. Like the cast interview where it was revealed Boyega auditioned eight or nine times, and each actor had to go to Pinewood Studios in England in to learn their lines because no one was allowed to take the script home with them.

Abrams also revealed that the movie is nearly done, and that the only thing left to do is “a couple more color correction things to do,” and saying “I can’t tell you the relief I feel” after finally completing what has been a “nerve-racking” multi-year process.

Check out more clips from Kimmel’s Star Wars episode — like what the first words of the new movie are and the cast recounting the moment they found out they were going to be in the movie — before finding out if Abrams’ efforts were worth it when The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.