The Last Jedi’s Rian Johnson Dishes On Kylo/Snoke Power Shift

The man formerly known as Ben Solo enjoyed a pretty huge, galaxy-shaking arc in Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

Having killed his father Han in The Force Awakens, Adam Driver’s mercurial Kylo Ren descends into full-blown villainy to assume the title of Supreme Leader – much to the chagrin of General Hux, we might add. To do so, Driver’s antagonist blindsided Snoke (and Star Wars fans!) to eliminate his superior and take charge of the First Order.

It’s a huge moment that will undoubtedly have massive repercussions for Episode IX – assuming J.J. Abrams doesn’t wind up resurrecting Snoke, of course – and while appearing at a recent IMAX Q&A (h/t Screen Rant), director Rian Johnson spilled the beans on Kylo’s thought process as he confronts his Supreme Leader for the last time.

In my mind, he walks in there knowing basically that he is going to betray Snoke but he doesn’t know yet exactly what the mechanism is and what his opportunity is going to be. But he’s gone in there with the intent of, whether it’s now or whether it’s later or whenever it is, when he brings Rey in there, he’s had that connection with her and what he says in the elevator… from that, in my head I thought, ‘Okay, he knows he’s going to do this but he doesn’t know how yet’ and when he sees that opportunity with that lightsaber next to him and sees Snoke distracted and realizes he can give this an attempt, he goes for it.

The Supreme Leader is dead…long live the Supreme Leader. Yes, there’s a new tyrant in control of the First Order, and we fully expect Kylo Ren’s arc to reach its conclusion one way or another when Star Wars: Episode IX zooms into theaters on December 20th, 2019.

But up first is a journey back in time for Solo: A Star Wars Story, Ron Howard’s long-anticipated anthology pic that unveiled its first footage at Super Bowl LII, before a more robust teaser trailer lit up the interwebs earlier this morning. You’ll be able to see it for yourself right here and remember, the finished product will be with us on May 25th of this year.