Kylo Ren

After Lucasfilm , who had shot the previous six films of the Star Wars saga, acquired The Walt Disney Company in 2012, Lawrence Kazdan , J.J. Abrams, and Michael Arndt wrote the script for the seventh film Star Wars: The Force Awakens (without the creator saga of George Lucas ) ^[3] . On April 29, 2014, the names of the actors who were to play the main roles in the seventh episode of Star Wars ^[4] became known. On November 28, 2014, the first teaser trailer for the film was released, in which viewers first saw Kylo Ren ^{[5] [6]} and his unusual red lightsaber with a guard ^{[7] [8] [9]} . The character's name became known a little later - Entertainment Weekly in the collection cards created by Lucasfilm in the style of Topps in December 2014 ^{[10] [11]} . In May 2015, in the Vanity Fair magazine, photographer Annie Leibovitz confirmed that the character of Adam Drivers would be called Kylo ^[12] .

In an interview with Time magazine, Michael Kaplan , a costume designer, said that Abrams asked for Ren's mask to be memorable for children. The final design was chosen from the many options proposed by Abrams. Kaplan said:

... I don’t know if it was the impression that she [the mask] was covered with spaghetti, or something else, but later JJ looked at what we had provided him and he liked it. In addition, silver in these lines reflects light and changes color when moving. You know, if you look at how he stands in front of the fire, you first pay attention to the mask.

Original text

... I don't know if it was the kind of spaghetti type lines on it or what, but the next time JJ came by that was what we presented to him and he loved it. Also the silver in those lines kind of reflects and changes color with the action. You know, if he's standing in front of fire you see that, so it almost brings you into the mask.

- Michael Kaplan ^[13]

In August 2015, Abrams told Entertainment Weekly : “The film explains the originality of the mask and where it came from, but its design implies a reference to the Vader mask” ^[14] . The driver explained that on the set, his rule was “forget that you are in Star Wars and treat it like any other work filled with details and problems,” because for the characters of the movie universe “Darth Vader really exists” ^[15] .

The author of the illustrated vocabulary for the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens , Pablo Hidalgo tweeted that at the time of the seventh episode, Kylo Ren was 29-30 years old ^[16] . He is the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa , and his initial name was Ben. Some time after the Battle of Endor, Ben became one of the disciples of the revived Jedi Order under the guidance of his uncle, Luke Skywalker . With great potential for managing the Force, Ben was obsessed with his grandfather, Darth Vader . Considering his mission to finish what Vader started, Ben betrayed his mentor Luke and destroyed the other members of the Order, for which he received the nickname "Jedi Killer" ( Eng. Jedi Killer ). He took on a new name, Kylo Ren, when he met a group called the Knights of Ren ^[14] . Kylo is not a Sith who has always been the main enemy of the Jedi, and is led by Supreme Leader Snowk , a powerful follower of the Dark Side of the Force ^[3] .

Robbie Collin from The Daily Telegraph described Ren: “... Kylo Ren is a determined, ardent follower of the Dark side of the force, his crackling and hissing red lightsaber corresponds to the cruel character of the owner” ^[17] . JJ Abrams also said that a lightsaber reflects the identity of the owner: “A lightsaber is something created by himself, and he is just as dangerous, just as bitter and as sloppy as the character himself” ^[14] . The Telegraph also explains that Wren's violent and unstable character, together with his uncontrollable fear, make him dangerous ^[18] . Melissa Leon of The Daily Beast calls Ren’s use of the Force “significant”, referring to his ability to stop blaster charges in the air, immobilize victims and infiltrate their minds against their will ^[19] .

In August 2015, Kazdan told Entertainment Weekly : “I have now written the scripts for the four Star Wars films, and they never had the character Adam plays. I think you have to see what will be remembered as novelty in the saga. " Kazdan also said of Kylo Ren that “he is full of emotions” ^[14] . Abrams also said the following: “... I think Rena makes it so unique that he is still too young and inexperienced when faced with a character like Darth Vader ... This is not the bad guy with a twisted mustache that you represent. He is a little more notorious ... ” ^[14] . In December 2015, Driver said that, despite some visual similarities between Darth Vader and Kylo Ren, the latter does not look like a single villain, who appeared earlier in the franchise ^[20] . The actor explained the essence of his hero:

I feel that what is usually associated with him is perhaps not associated with the Dark Side. Usually you are presented with order, thoughtfulness, a lot of obligations, and no doubt ... He has not yet reached this level. This is manifested in his suit, in his light sword - which you can find the point is that at any moment it may fail; that it could explode. This is a kind of big metaphor for him.

Original text

I feel there's a recklessness about him that's maybe not normally associated with the Dark Side. You normally think of order, and structure, and full commitment and no hesitation ... he's just a little bit more unpolished. It's in his costume, in his lightsaber - how you kind of get the sense that it could just not work at any moment; that it could just blow up. That's kind of like a big metaphor for him.

- Adam Driver ^[20]

The Awakening of Power (2015)

Kylo Ren appears at the very beginning of the seventh film. Upon learning that the Resistance got a map with the coordinates of Luke Skywalker on the deserted planet Jakku, Ren with his elite fighters, including Finn , landed on it and capture Lor San Tekka, who has the map. Kylo Ren calmly kills him, but Tekka managed to transfer the map to Po Dameron, who, in turn, wanted to fly away with her and his droid BB-8, but was also captured by the First Order .

In the middle of the film, during the battle on Takodan between the Resistance and the First Order , Ren arrives on the planet in search of the BB-8 droid, which contains the desired map. He finds Rey , who saw this card, and, using the Force , euthanizes the heroine and takes her to the Starkiller base - a snow-covered planet, turned into a superweapon of the First Order.

In the finals, after Han Solo , Chewbacca and Finn arrive at the Starkiller base, where Rey has already managed to get out of captivity. Kylo meets with his father Khan, who asks him to return to the family. Experiencing internal contradictions, Kylo kills her father with a lightsaber. In the finale, Kylo Ren alternately enters into a duel with swords with Finn and Ray. Kylo Ren loses to Rey, who has learned to use the Force, and manages to evacuate from a crumbling planet along with others from the First Order. Kylo Ren inherited the enormous potential of the Force from his grandfather. This is confirmed by the fact that he was able to cloud his mind and thereby kill a very powerful adherent of the Force of Snowk. However, lightsaber skills leave much to be desired, most likely due to a lack of proper training. ^[21]

The Last Jedi (2017)

Rena's internal conflict continues in The Last Jedi, in particular through his conversations with Rei, with whom he connected through the Force. Ray believes that his conflict will eventually bring him back to the light, but Wren captures her and leads her to Snowk, who orders Wren to kill her.

However, Ren, using the Force, activates the lightsaber that lay next to Snow, and, cutting him in half, kills him. Wren invites Rey to join him in order to create a new order, separate from the Resistance and the First Order. When Ray refuses, Ren proclaims himself the new Supreme Leader of the First Order and orders his troops to attack the Resistance base. On the planet where the Resistance base was located, Ren enters the battle with “Luke” and when, as he thought, he blew it up and cut it in half, when he came face to face with him, Luke remained in his place. The “Luke” turns out to be a simple hologram, caused by a real Luke with the help of the Force on Ech-To, to distract the First Order to enable the Resistance to leave. During the assault on the base, he exchanges a last look with the Rei through the Force before she closes the door to the Millennium Falcon and escapes with the Resistance.

Critics have remained positive about Kylo Ren - both about the character himself and about Adam Driver playing his role. Ren's complex, controversial nature and design of his costume were recognized by many; in addition, critics point out that there are still many possibilities for further revealing the image of this character ^{[22] [23] [24]} . Peter Bradshaw of The Guardian praised the character and the actor alike: “He's superbly cruel, angry and unpredictable; unlike the more experienced Vader, he gives the upper hand outbursts of anger and tantrums, with the use of a lightsaber in vain - when a subordinate gives him unsatisfactory news of some other victory of the Resistance ” ^[25] . Todd McCarthy of The Hollywood Reporter noted that Ren has “a pronounced inferiority complex , this is a gifted bad guy with whom a lot of interesting things can happen both in the script and in the film itself” ^[26] IGN Terry Schwartz also called brilliant acting Driver’s game: “In his performance an incredibly deep character came out that could turn out to be monotonous, and his actions allow the viewer to remember him for a long time after leaving the cinema” ^[27] .

Robbie Collin of The Telegraph wrote that “It would be right to characterize Kylo Ren in this film as an analog of Vader ... However, one cannot help but marvel at the ingenuity with which Abrams, Kazdan and Arndt approached the character creation, as well as the emotionality and confusion that the Driver put into it” ^[17] . Melissa Leon compares Ren with Anakin Skywalker from the prequel trilogy, and also notes that his aggressiveness and temper make him very believable and similar to many people in the real world ^[19] . Abrams told Entertainment Weekly that he was very pleased to work with Driver, who was diligently performing his role ^[14] . Peter Travers writes in Rolling Stone magazine : “A blatant attempt to create a Vader double, one of the greatest bad guys in movie history, would be fundamentally unsuccessful, but Driver, with or without a mask, makes him well thought out and memorable” ^[28] .

Before Disney acquired Lucasfilm and adopted the new storyline for the saga , the main characters in the old expanded Star Wars universe were also children of the Skywalker and Solo families. Although the director of the movie Star Wars: The Force Awakens, J.J. Abrams and producer Kathleen Kennedy refused to borrow the plot elements directly from the old canon, many observers suggest that the image of Kylo Ren might have been inspired by the character Jacen Solo . In the old canon, Jacen was also the son of Khan and Leah , came into conflict with his family and switched to the Dark Side of the Force, becoming the lord of the Sith named Darth Caidus. Like Kylo Ren, he was jealous of the legacy of his grandfather Darth Vader ^{[29] [30] [31]} . The real name of Kylo Ren - Ben - in the old canon was the son of Luke Skywalker and Mary Jade ^[29] . In addition to them, in the old expanded universe there was a young Jedi Kip Durron, who, like Kylo Ren, betrayed Luke Skywalker and destroyed the new Jedi Order ^[31] . Additionally, critics noted the similarities between the appearance of Kylo Ren and Revan , the protagonist in Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic ^{[32] [33]} .

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