There are four ways Kylo Ren’s Star Wars story can be explored further, despite his sacrificial death in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Kylo Ren’s tragic character arc began long before the opening scenes of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. His parentage slapped a target onto his back years before he was even aware of his place in the galaxy or his connection with the Force. Palpatine sought to manipulate a young Ben Solo, just as he manipulated his grandfather before him, turning Ben into Kylo Ren and forcing him to become one of the most formidable dark side users the galaxy had ever known until Kylo met Rey, reconnected with his family’s legacy, and eventually sacrificed himself to save Rey’s life.
All in all, Kylo Ren has had a well-rounded and fulfilling character arc – The Star Wars sequel trilogy told the story of Ben’s redemption and his connection with Rey, and the comic series Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren by Charles Soule detailed his descent into darkness. And yet, there are plenty of moments of his journey that are still completely shrouded in mystery. As Luke Skywalker has said, “No one is ever really gone.” This being Star Wars, there is always room for deeper character exploration, and there are four distinct ways Kylo Ren can return to Star Wars storytelling so audiences can learn more about this compelling character.
4 Tales Of The Jedi Could Tell Kylo Ren’s Backstory
Star Wars: Tales of the Jedi is the perfect vehicle with which to explore more of Kylo Ren’s backstory, the same way it deconstructed Count Dooku’s loyalty to Darth Sidious and the former Jedi’s fall to the dark side. Where The Rise of Kylo Ren focused mainly on Ben’s relationship with Luke and Palpatine’s masterful manipulation, a set of Tales of the Jedi shorts focused on Ben Solo/Kylo Ren can provide more background on his strained relationship with his parents and the pressures of upholding the Skywalker family legacy, all factors which contributed to his eventual fall to the dark side and his misguided worship of Darth Vader. Tales of the Jedi’s structure would give audiences a chance to see what Ben Solo was like as a young child, too, which hasn’t been depicted in depth before.
3 A Prequel Movie Could Feature Kylo Ren
The Star Wars franchise is built around feature films. Therefore, logically, Kylo Ren could always return in a prequel-like Star Wars movie that depicts the events preceding Star Wars: The Force Awakens. One vital part of Kylo Ren’s life that has yet to be explored more thoroughly is his time with the First Order and his rise to power within it. Star Wars has had success with semi-standalone prequel movies before, like the billion-dollar hit Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Kylo Ren could potentially be a big enough draw to find that type of success again, as part of the character’s appeal is unraveling the mystery of how he came to be such a tragic figure.
The possibility of a Kylo Ren-focused Star Wars movie was recently teased by Variety in an interview with director and producer Shawn Levy. Levy, best known for his work on Stranger Things and Deadpool 3, is currently developing a Star Wars movie of his own. Though the various strikes in Hollywood have delayed the project’s development (and many other standalone Star Wars movies have been scrapped over the last few years), Variety asked whether Levy’s close relationship with Adam Driver, who portrayed Kylo Ren throughout the Star Wars sequel trilogy, could lead to a Kylo Ren-focused prequel movie. Though Levy was quick to respond with “no comment,” it’s certainly an intriguing possibility.
2 Kylo Ren Could Return Through The Force Dyad
One of the biggest surprises from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker was the introduction of Rey Skywalker and Kylo Ren’s Force Dyad. Essentially, a Force Dyad is a naturally occurring phenomenon in the Force that closely bonds two Force-sensitive people. In The Rise of Kylo Ren, it was implied that the bond between Rey and Kylo was created the moment Ben Solo became Kylo Ren so that, one day, Rey could be the key to bringing Ben Solo back from the dark side. Though the concept of the Force Dyad is extremely intriguing, very little is known about it because it was only solidified as an idea in The Rise of Skywalker. Ben died before his and Rey’s bond could truly be explored – but what if that bond still existed, even after his death?
It is well-established that a Force-sensitive person’s consciousness can live on even after death. Force Ghosts, for instance, have been a staple of the franchise since the original Star Wars trilogy. If Rey and Kylo’s bond in the Force was so strong as to be able to create a Force Dyad, wouldn’t it be strong enough to allow Kylo to come back in some capacity, too? Either as a Force Ghost or, at the very least, a guiding voice for Rey? The concept of the Force Dyad could be further explored in Rey’s upcoming New Jedi Order movie – what happened to their bond after Ben died in The Rise of Skywalker, how it helped Rey understand the Force better, and whether it allowed Ben to come back one way or another.
1 Ben Solo’s Story Could Be Told In Other Star Wars Mediums
While movies and shows make up the bulk of Star Wars storytelling, the franchise’s novels and comic books are equally important. These printed stories provide vital context for character relationships and backstories, the galaxy’s political situations, and the lore and mysticism of the Force. While Kylo Ren has been featured in several published works, most notably The Rise of Kylo Ren and the movie novelizations, novels, especially, present a perfect opportunity to explore his character from a different point of view and within a different part of the Star Wars timeline.
Take Claudia Gray’s novel Master & Apprentice, for example. Gray’s novel is set before the Star Wars prequel trilogy and tells the story of one of Obi-Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn’s adventures when Obi-Wan was still a young and somewhat inexperienced Padawan. Not only does Master & Apprentice provide much-needed nuance and depth to Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon’s complex relationship, but it also features vital context for the Chosen One prophecy and Count Dooku’s descent into darkness.
A novel centered on Ben Solo could follow a similar structure – perhaps an upcoming Star Wars novel could feature a story from when Ben and Luke scoured the galaxy for ancient Jedi relics, or there could be a book that delves into Ben’s childhood before he joined Luke’s new Jedi Order. In any case, it’s clear that when it comes to Kylo Ren, there are plenty of stories left to tell. In the Star Wars franchise, anything is possible.
