One of the core elements of Kylo Ren is his rocky relationship with his legacy and one of the foundations of his turn to the Dark Side is that he feels pressure to live up to the various heroes in his past. He’s named after Obi-Wan Kenobi, his parents are Rebellion heroes Han Solo and Leia Organa, his grandfather is Anakin Skywalker and he’s being trained by Luke Skywalker. That’s a heavy burden to bear, and the ongoing Star Wars comic The Rise of Kylo Ren has shown how Snoke exploited those insecurities by appealing to his individualism.
The latest issue of the comic shows Ben Solo in his first days with the Knights of Ren. As they welcome him into their ranks, their leader comments that Ben lacks a certain sartorial elegance: “The kid looks like trash. An actual pile of garbage. find him some clothes. I mean… we’re the Knights of Ren. We have a reputation.”
That means one thing… It’s makeover time! And here’s what they come up with:
Anyone familiar with the franchise will immediately recognize it as being strongly inspired by Han Solo’s costumes in The Empire Strikes Back, Solo and The Force Awakens. In particular, the jacket and low-slung blaster holster are extremely Han. That this costume is so obviously reminiscent of what his dad wears makes it deeply ironic, too. Ben Solo has joined the Knights of Ren to forge his own identity, only for them to dress him up in what amounts to Han Solo cosplay.
Given that he looks pretty pleased with his new duds, I doubt he’s realized the similarity. But seeing as he’s switched to a full-on black robe and mask combo by the time of The Force Awakens, I guess he figured it out at some point.
In any case, there’s now only one issue of The Rise of Kylo Ren left to come, which at this rate should show him assuming a leadership role in the Knights of Ren. It’s been an interesting run so far and revealed a lot about the character, but it begs the question of why some of this stuff wasn’t in the Star Wars movies.
