Ever since her first appearance in the trailers, fans have been fascinated by Dark Rey. It was kind of a disappointment, then, that this vision of Daisy Ridley’s heroine if she went to the Dark Side only briefly appeared in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker. Especially as it’s clear there was a lot of work put into the design of this alternate take on the character.
We’ve seen a bunch of concept art for Dark Rey before, but this latest piece is definitely one of the coolest. Artist Adam Brockbank has shared this piece from the developmental stage of the movie on his Instagram account and as you can see, it imagines evil Rey donning the helmet of enemy/love interest Kylo Ren.
In the film itself, Dark Rey’s look drew inspiration from her grandfather Palpatine, in her cloaked appearance, and Darth Maul, in her dual red lightsaber. Going with a Kylo Ren-inspired design would have been an interesting move, though, as it would’ve tapped into Rey’s fear of becoming just like Kylo, but at the same time her attraction to him and the Dark Side. It also would’ve more directly referenced The Empire Strikes Back scene in which Luke sees his own face in Vader’s mask.
In the end, though, it probably made the most sense to keep it in the family and link her brief battle with Dark Rey on the wreckage of the Death Star into her terrible discovery that she’s actually Palpatine’s descendant and it may be her destiny to take over his Sith throne. Brockbank has previously posted another piece of concept art which made the Dark Rey/Palpatine connection even more obvious, too.
Would a Kylo-influenced Dark Rey have been even cooler than the one we got in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, though? Have your say in the comments section below.
