"Who is that guy with the crossguard lightsaber?," "Star Wars" fans wondered when the first "Force Awakens" trailer debuted. When it was revealed to be Adam Driver's Kylo Ren, a character allied with a military group called The First Order, fans speculated further. Who is Kylo Ren? Is he a Sith? What is The First Order?
Director J.J. Abrams clarified some details about his new "Episode VII" character in a recent interview with Empire magazine. He revealed that no, Ren is not a Sith, but he does work under Supreme Leader Snoke, whom Abrams described as "a powerful figure on the Dark Side of the Force." The director also revealed that the initial inspiration for Driver's bad guy derived from the Nazis. Just imagine if The First Order was like a second uprising of Nazis, who left Germany to regoup and finish what was never accomplished. Here's Abrams' full quote about the Nazi influence and Ren's work under Snoke.
That all came out of conversations about, what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again? What could be born of that? Could The First Order exist as a group that actually admired The Empire? Could the work of The Empire be seen as unfulfilled? And could Vader be a martyr? Could there be a need to see through what didn’t get done?
In a sense, then, Ren is like a Nazi of another galaxy, only much worse. Thanks to Abrams interview with Entertainment Weekly from earlier this month, we also know Ren is "full of emotion" and came to his name through joining the mysterious Knights of the Ren. Could that group have Nazi inspirations as well? We'll have to wait to see just how evil Ren is when "The Force Awakens" hits theaters on Dec. 18.
For more, head to Empire.
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