The Only Star Wars Character to Make Darth Vader Run Was Both Jedi AND Sith
Adam Driver addresses the evolution of his character in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, revealing how original plans had changed.
Star Wars actor Adam Driver has opened up about the original plan for his character Kylo Ren in the sequel trilogy.
Speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, Driver was asked about his experience working on the Star Wars sequels, which he starred in from 2015 to 2019. Driver was asked about playing Kylo Ren/Ben Solo, and the actor revealed some of the original plans for the character. “[The plans] changed,” Driver said. “Rian took [Kylo Ren] into a different direction but it still kind of tracked. And then the last one, it changed into being about [Ben and Rey] and the dyad…and evolving into Ben Solo. That was never part [of the original plan].” With this, Driver is revealing that Ben Solo’s redemption wasn’t always planned from the start, with the original story actually going in the opposite direction.
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Kylo Ren Was Supposed to Grow More and More Evil
Driver went on to explain the original plan, which was set up in The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi, had Kylo Ren growing more and more evil as the trilogy went on. “I had an overall arc in mind that he [JJ Abrams] wanted to do, which then changed,” Driver noted. “His idea was almost the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident, the most committed to the Dark Side, and by the last movie he’s the most vulnerable, and weak, and he wanted to start at the opposite, where this character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies would be most committed to the Dark Side.”
The behind the scenes process of the sequel trilogy came under intense speculation and scrutiny after the release of The Rise of Skywalker in 2019. Some fans felt that the trilogy’s story wasn’t mapped out as much as it could or should have been, resulting in some surprising creative decisions such as Emperor Palpatine’s return in Episode IX. It seemed as if Kylo Ren was being set up to become the main villain of the story after killing Snoke in The Last Jedi, but Palpatine’s reemergence meant there was a bigger bad the heroes were facing and planted the seeds for Ben Solo’s return to the light side of the Force.
A close up of Kylo Ren’s face with Luke’s Jedi Temple burning in the background.
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Despite a 52% critics score on Rotten Tomatoes, it seems as if the Star Wars sequels cast were happy with the quality of The Rise of Skywalker. Adam Driver himself said he enjoyed the film, and John Boyega claimed it was his second favorite of the trilogy following The Force Awakens. Daisy Ridley also saidThe Rise of Skywalker was her favorite movie to film in a galaxy far, far away, stating: “I was in a very safe environment with a lot of people that I already knew. So I felt very comfortable, and I really made an effort to be present every day. And it was my favorite filming experience for that reason because I was really taking in everything, and none of the joy and excitement had gone. So I felt like I could breathe a little easier.”
