"Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens" director J.J. Abrams discusses Kylo Ren's turn to the Dark Side.
Kylo Ren, played by Adam Driver, is the movie's main villain who is caught in a struggle between the Dark and Light side of the Force. In "Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens," Kylo Ren is revealed to idolize the original trilogy's antagonist, Darth Vader, vowing to finish what he started.
Abrams sat down with IGN and elaborated on Kylo Ren's journey to embracing the Dark Side.
"Kylo Ren idolizes Darth Vader, not Anakin Skywalker. He idolizes what Vader represents and what Vader was trying to do. And the idea that Vader didn't succeed, if you look at it from Ren's point of view, he was seduced by the enemy and failed because of that seduction. So the idea is that Ren wants to complete the thing that Vader started."
"An incredible power, an incredible force, and incredible potential that was, like many young people, sort of misguided and unclear. And the story for him is one of conflict, not just internal conflict but external conflict," he added. "And it's what makes him a rather interesting villain."
While little is known about Kylo Ren's backstory, it was revealed that Supreme Leader Snoke was instrumental in corrupting Kylo Ren as a youngster. Screen Rant speculates that Kylo Ren's internal conflict will be explored as the sequel trilogy progresses.
"Star Wars 7: The Force Awakens" is now in theaters. "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the franchise's first standalone film, releases on Dec. 16, 2016, followed by "Star Wars Episode 8" on May 26, 2017, and the Han Solo "Star Wars" anthology movie on May 25, 2018. "Star Wars Episode 9" arrives sometime in 2019, followed by another "Star Wars" anthology movie in 2020.
