Star Wars Is Bringing Back Kylo Ren To Fill The Gap Between Last Jedi & Rise Of Skywalker

The "Star Wars" sequel trilogy will always be a complicated beast since what happened after "The Force Awakens" was unquestionably divisive. But it also delivered an inarguably compelling villain in the form of Kylo Ren, aka Ben Solo, the son of Han Solo and Leia Organa who was corrupted by the dark side only to be redeemed like his grandfather Anakin Skywalker, aka Darth Vader. There are some pretty major gaps in Kylo's story, but a new comic book series aims to fill in those gaps next year.

Lucasfilm and Marvel Comics have announced "Star Wars: Legacy of Vader," a new series that will be written by Charles Soule, the man who helped launch The High Republic era with the book "Light of the Jedi," with artwork by Luke Ross. Soule also previously explored Kylo's origins in "Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren," which you can grab on Amazon. We have a brief preview of the new book, which you can check out below, but the big hook here is that this story will be set between the events of "The Last Jedi" and "The Rise of Skywalker." We're going to see Supreme Leader Kylo Ren after he killed Snoke and after Rey rejected his offer to join him in leading the galaxy.

Per a press release, the series "revisits Kylo's enduring connection to his maternal grandfather, the Empire's enforcer Darth Vader, and further explores how the events of Vader's past guide Kylo's choices as he leads the First Order." Dating back to "The Force Awakens," Kylo's obsession with Vader has always been evident. The first issue will see Kylo making a journey to Mustafar, which features Vader's castle as seen in the movie "Rogue One." Later issues will take him to places like Tatooine as he tries to unlock the secrets of his family's past. Soule had this to say about it:

"I think both of those worked so well in part because they were set in parts of the Star Wars timeline full of unanswered questions about characters the audience really loves. This new series is not just a combination of those two books, but also a chance to explore an extremely rich section of the timeline that's almost entirely open: Kylo Ren's time as Supreme Leader of the First Order."

Adam Driver played Kylo Ren masterfully, even if the movies themselves didn't always serve him well. While there are still a lot of questions regarding the overarching plan for the sequel trilogy (or lack thereof), Driver did confirm in 2023 that the original plan for Kylo changed, with both "Last Jedi" and "Rise of Skywalker" veering from what J.J. Abrams originally had in mind. No comic can change the narrative that these movies were divisive, but it can help fill in some major knowledge gaps. 

What happened in those years between Episode VIII and Episode IX? Where did Kylo's obsession with Vader lead him? Will "Legacy of Vader" explain why Kylo was on such a bloodthirsty quest for Sith relics in the opening minutes of "Rise of Skywalker?" Can this book help make Palpatine's return make a little more sense? Soule has a real opportunity here. Speaking further, Soule laid out where Kylo is at the beginning of this series, and what he plans to explore.

"Kylo is truly lost at this particular moment. In a very short span of time, he's faced two of his most significant mentors in combat (one of whom is his uncle), killed his own father, almost killed his mother, stolen control of a galaxy-level military that he has no idea how he'll use, and of course, found a deep connection with another Force-user named Rey. All of that is swirling around in his emotional matrix, making him deeply unstable, angry, frustrated ... dangerous. He's looking for any form of guidance he can get — even if he won't admit it — and so he turns to just about the only thing he's got left, the legacy of his grandfather, the Sith Lord Darth Vader."

"Star Wars: Legacy of Vader" #1 hits shelves on February 5, 2025.