Waiting for any news pertaining to Star Wars: The Force Awakens seems to be similar to waiting for a bus in that we’ve waited weeks for anything to go on and now, we’re left spoilt for choice. Aided by Entertainment Weekly’s cover story, today’s feast effectively ameliorates the month-long famine, with a bevy of new screenshots, spoiler-heavy details about a certain wayward lightsaber and news of J.J. Abrams’ role – or lack thereof – in Episode IX all hitting the interwebs, Star Wars fans don’t know which way to turn.
Adding fuel to the fire is a new report that offers up fresh details relating to Adam Driver’s villainous Kylo Ren. Aside from stealing the limelight on EW’s soon-to-be-released new issue, the galactic menace is also harboring a deep secret of his own. If you’re going out of your way to ensure you walk into the theater to see The Force Awakens with a blank slate, we’d advise against reading on.
Set a full 30 years after the events of Return of the Jedi, we know that Star Wars: The Force Awakens will see a new evil force rise up from the ashes of the Empire in the form of The New Order. And Ren will be a major player within the totalitarian army, The Knights of Ren. According to Screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, Driver’s antagonist is arguably one of the most interesting, multi-faceted characters to enter the Star Wars canon in generations.
“I’ve written four Star Wars movies now, and there’s never been a character quite like the one that Adam plays. I think you’re going to see something that’s brand new to the saga. He’s full of emotion. No matter how we express ourselves in the world, whether we hide it and act very calm or whether we’re very out there and demonstrative, everybody’s roiling with emotion. And you want your characters to be that way, too. Then they have to deal with their emotions as best they can, with what they are. (Kasdan pauses as if he is on the verge of saying too much)… I’d say that is as far as I’d go.”
Star Wars: The Force Awakens will arrive in theaters on December 18, 2015.