Star Wars: A Controversial Kylo Ren Story Wasn't Always Planned Admits Adam Driver
The Kylo Ren that Adam Driver signed up to play in the Star Wars sequel trilogy wasn't the character Kylo Ren became in the final film in the series.
In director J.J. Abrams' "Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens," Driver's villain is revealed to be former Ben Solo — the estranged son of Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) — who went astray while being trained by Leia's Jedi twin brother, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). "Star Wars: Episode VIII — The Last Jedi" sheds light on Kylo's backstory, depicting Luke's moment of weakness that spurred his nephew's turn to the dark side. During the trilogy's final installment, Ben comes back to the light side and joins Rey (Daisy Ridley) in her fight against Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid).
During an interview with the eponymous host of "The Rich Eisen Show," Driver explained that it was his initial understanding he would remain an antagonist, with Kylo's path being the inverse of his Sith Lord grandfather, Darth Vader. That had changed when "Star Wars: Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker" entered development.
"I had an overall arc in mind that [J.J. Abrams] wanted to do. His idea was that [Kylo's] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the dark side," the actor said. "And then, by the last movie, he's the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. [Kylo Ren] was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the dark side."
Driver says he never expected Kylo Ren to revert to Ben Solo
Like the original Star Wars trilogy, the sequels enlisted different directors, with Rian Johnson taking the baton from J.J. Abrams for "The Last Jedi." But while George Lucas spearheaded the narrative flow of the classics (directing "A New Hope" and working closely with Irvin Kershner and Richard Marquand on the others), the filmmakers behind the sequel trilogy had distinctly different visions for their franchise entries.
Despite realizing that Kylo Ren was changing in a way he didn't expect, Adam Driver told Rich Eisen that, in his mind at least, he committed to the character's story arc as it was pitched to him. "With Rian, he took it in a different direction, but it still tracked with the character," he said. "And then the last one, it changed into being, you know, about them and the Dyad and things like that. And evolving into Ben Solo. That was never a part of it. He was Ben Solo from the beginning, but there was never a version where we'd see Ben Solo when I first signed up for it."
Of course, it could be possible that Driver would have gotten what he signed up for before original "Star Wars: Episode IX" writer-director Colin Trevorrow left the project over creative differences with Lucasfilm. Abrams took over directing duties from there, helming what eventually became "The Rise of Skywalker." If there's any consolation, Driver at least was lucky enough to have a shot at a full arc for Kylo Ren. Things may have been much different had Disney gone with the plan for George Lucas' original sequel trilogy instead.