Last Jedi Director Talks The Journey of Kylo-Ren & Snoke

Last Jedi Director Talks The Journey of Kylo-Ren & Snoke

The New Dark Side

By Franco Dionisio

In the latest issue of Empire, Star Wars: The Last Jedi Director Rian Johnson has opened up about several key elements of the film. Check out some quotes below regarding the revelations we can expect from the relationship between Kylo-Ren and Supreme Leader Snoke.

“We got the whole story of Palpatine’s rise to power in the prequels, but in the original films he’s exactly what he needs to be, which is just ‘The Emperor,’” Johnson said. “He’s a dark force: the scary thing behind the thing. That was entirely how I approached Snoke. I wasn’t interested in explaining where he came from or telling his history, except where it serves this story.”

“Writing Kylo Ren is just so much fun,” says Johnson. “Star Wars boils down to the transition from adolescence into adulthood. That’s the heart of these films and Rey is most obviously the one that hangs on. But it’s also Kylo. In the originals you project entirely onto Luke, while Vader is the scary other — he’s the minotaur. The fascinating thing about Kylo and Rey is that they’re two sides of something. We can all relate to Kylo: to that anger of being in the turmoil of adolescence and figuring out who he’s going to be as a man; dealing with anger and wanting to separate from his family. He’s not Vader — at least, he’s not Vader yet — and that’s something I really wanted to get into.”

Directed by Rian Johnson, Star Wars: The Last Jedi continues the sequel trilogy following the events of 2015's Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

Mark Hamill returns as Luke Skywalker, alongside Adam Driver as Kylo-Ren, Daisy Ridley as Rey, John Boyega as Finn, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Lupita Nyong'o as Maz Kanata, Domhnall Gleeson as General Hux, Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, Gwendoline Christie as Captain Phasma, and Andy Serkis as Supreme Leader Snoke. Carrie Fisher also stars as General Leia Organa, the actress had finished filming on the feature before sadly passing away at the end of 2016, making this one of her final film appearances. 

New cast members include Benicio del Toro, Laura Dern, and Kelly Marie Tran in unconfirmed roles.


Star Wars: The Last Jedi is set for release December 15th, 2017.

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