By now, it’s well-documented that Star Wars experienced significant creative changes throughout the sequel trilogy, especially between The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker. According to Adam Driver, some of the story changes involved his villainous character, Kylo Ren.
What Did Adam Driver Say About Kylo Ren’s Original Arc?
While speaking on The Rich Eisen Show, Driver said he first had to sign on for the part of Kylo Ren before being allowed to read a script. However, J.J. Abrams, one of the creative forces behind the sequel trilogy, shared his vision for Kylo Ren with Driver before he read the script. Driver explained how Kylo Ren’s original arc mirrored Darth Vader’s journey but in the opposite direction.
“I had an overall arc in mind that [Abrams] wanted to do, which then changed, but 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,” Driver said. “And he wanted to start it 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. So I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed, obviously.”
Driver said the changes to Kylo Ren began in The Last Jedi when writer-director Rian Johnson “took it into a different direction.” The arc shifted even more in The Rise of Skywalker, as Ben Solo’s redemption was never part of the original plan.
“Then the last one, it changed into being about them, and the dyad, and things like that,” Drive continued. “And evolving into Ben Solo, that was never part of it. He was Ben Solo from the beginning, but it was never a version where we actually see Ben Solo when I first signed up for it.”
All three films in Kylo Ren’s polarizing journey are streaming on Disney+.
