Adam Driver, who plays Kylo Ren in the latest Star Wars trilogy, revealed that his character’s story was actually supposed to unfold quite differently. However, a key aspect was changed in the third film.
Adam Driver spoke on The Rich Eisen Show on December 13, 2023, about his significant role as the “Star Wars” antagonist in the latest trilogy of the well-known sci-fi franchise. He revealed that Kylo Ren was actually supposed to have a completely different storyline.
Here you can see a trailer for Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker, the last film in which Adam Driver appears as Kylo Ren:
Kylo Ren is nicer than planned
How was Kylo Ren’s story actually supposed to unfold? Adam Driver narrated in the interview how J.J. Abrams originally envisioned his character’s story:
“His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey is the opposite journey of Vader, with Vader being the most confident and most committed to the dark side at the beginning. And then, in the last film, he is the most vulnerable and weakest. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three films, he would be most committed to the dark side.”
Here you can see Adam Driver talking about Kylo Ren himself. Jump to 7:07 for that:
When did the plan for Kylo Ren change? As the actor mentioned, the original concept for the character was also pursued in the second film of the trilogy directed by Rian Johnson – although he steered the antagonist’s story in a somewhat different direction.
Only in the third film did the decision occur to give the antagonist a redemption arc and bring him back to the good side of the Force.
Also, the fact that Kylo Ren would develop again into Ben Solo as a person was originally not planned, as the actor further detailed: “He was Ben Solo from the beginning, but there was never a version where we would see Ben Solo when I signed up for the role.”
More about the upcoming “Star Wars” film with Daisy Ridley can be read here with our colleagues at Moviepilot: “It’s about time”: New Star Wars film achieves what no other has accomplished in 47 years
If you want to relive the end of the story surrounding Kylo Ren, you can currently find Star Wars 9: The Rise of Skywalker on Disney +, Amazon Prime, Apple TV, maxdome, Magenta TV, and Google Play.
And if you want to not just watch Star Wars but also experience it yourself, then this new open-world game from Ubisoft’s developer studio Massive Entertainment might be just right for you: New Star Wars game wants to let you experience the criminal underworld as a rogue
