Why Rey and Kylo Ren Are Protagonists of the ‘Star Wars’ Sequel Trilogy

Star Wars: The Last Jedi is going to be a pivotal chapter of the Star Wars saga – especially for the characters of Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Rey (Daisy Ridley). In a recent interview with Last Jedi director Rian Johnson, we learned that the conflict between Kylo and Rey won’t be a standard hero vs villain rivalry.

As Johnson describes it, The Last Jedi will delve into the idea of Rey and Kylo both being protagonists of this Star Wars sequel trilogy, who are on very different arcs of character development:

“Rey and Kylo are almost two halves of our protagonist. It’s not like Kylo is our Vader. In the original trilogy, Vader is the father — he’s the one you’re afraid of and who you want the approval of. Whereas Kylo represents anger and rebellion, the sometimes healthy — and sometimes not — desire to disconnect from the parents. It’s my favorite kind of quote-unquote bad guy, because you can genuinely see what their weakness is.”

Meeting In The Middle

In The Force Awakens, orphan Rey discovered her powerful connection to The Force, which she used to defeat Kylo Ren, the son of Han Solo and Leia who fell to the dark side of the Force. As Johnson describes it, The Last Jedi has the challenge of advancing the stories of Kylo and Rey, while still presenting a self-contained story: 

“The first film got these characters here. This second movie has to dig into and challenge these characters. I wanted this to be a satisfying experience unto itself. I didn’t want it to end with a dot, dot, dot, question mark.”

Fans are eager to learn how the idea of “the last Jedi,” and the possibility of a new form of Jedi (the Gray Jedi) will be applied ot the journeys of both Rey and Kylo. For Rey, it could mean balancing the darkness that comes with her impressive powers; for Kylo, it could mean finally accepting the light inside of him, which he was so eager to deny in The Force Awakens. 

By the end of The Last Jedi, it would be interesting to see Kylo and Rey meeting in the middleground of the gray Jedi, united to and end the war between The First Order and The Resistance. 

Star Wars: The Last Jedi will be in theaters on December 15th.