The fans currently have a lot of questions around the upcoming Star Wars: Episode IX that Adam Driver has so far done a pretty good job of not answering. Indeed, the actor’s comments have rarely gone beyond the vague tease that Lucasfilm is “working toward something in particular” with the character of Kylo Ren, and going by the star’s recent comments to Deadline, Driver has been harboring the secret of his arc’s conclusion for quite some time.
Reflecting on his lengthy journey as the main villain of the Sequel Trilogy, the actor drew a comparison with his run in HBO’s Girls to suggest that he’s known for years where Kylo’s story is all headed:
“With Girls, there wasn’t really an end in sight, so it was fun to develop it as I went, and to think about where it was all going. With Star Wars, I had one piece of information of where it was all going, and that’s where it has been in my head for a long time, and things were building towards that.”
Perhaps there’s more than one way of interpreting Driver’s words here, but it certainly sounds like elements of Kylo’s story in Episode IX had been mapped out from the start. To some extent, this notion flies in the face of the common accusation that the Sequel Trilogy had no overarching vision, though of course, this isn’t to say that Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi didn’t still diverge in some ways from J.J. Abrams’ plans for the series.
In any case, we’ve still got most of the year to wait before we learn what fate has been lined up for Kylo, though it’s already looking very likely that he won’t come out of this movie alive. In the meantime, it’s a popular prediction right now that the film’s title will be unveiled in the next few weeks, and while it could be a few months yet before the first trailer comes out, all will be revealed when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th, 2019.
