'Star Wars': Kylo Ren's pop-culture ancestors
This post contains spoilers about Star Wars: The Force Awakens. If you haven't seen the movie, stop reading now if you know what's good for you.
Most of us love and admire our grandfathers.
Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) worships his. On kind of an unhealthy level.
This is your last chance to turn back if you don't want to be spoiled.
OK, here we go.
Born Ben (presumably after Obi-Wan Kenobi), the son of Princess Leia and Han Solo once trained with Uncle Luke Skywalker, but he's long since broken bad by the time we meet him. Rechristened Kylo Ren, he keeps the smoldered remains of Grandpa Darth Vader's helmet in his room and talks to it. "I'll finish what you started," he says, vowing to complete the annihilation of the Jedi begun in Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
In another of their one-sided chats, Ren confesses to having Light-Side-of-the-Force pangs. It's worth recalling that when Darth was still Anakin Skywalker, he felt guilty about the terrible things he did on behalf of his Sith master, Chancellor/Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious), in his vain attempt to keep wife Padmé alive. And he did come back to the Light Side in the final moments of his life in Return of the Jedi by saving Luke and killing Palpatine. (Wonder if Ren has heard that story?)
No doubt about it: Ren definitely gets his temper — and love of force-choking — from Anakin.
But we sense some other pop-culture spirit animals in Ren, especially once we finally see him unmasked.
Consider:
His hair
With all that windswept, long, jet-black hair and none of his usual facial hair, Adam Driver looks less like his Girls character and more like the follicular lovechild of Game of Thrones' Jon Snow and Harry Potter villain-turned-hero Severus Snape. (Might Ren undergo the same character transformation by the end of Episode IX?)
And then, of course, there's the drapey, all-black wardrobe.
His light saber
Definitely reminiscent of a certain Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
His stare
This, he gets from Keanu Reeves in Point Break. (Only Ren's is more terrifying, thanks to his ability to mind-rape you.)
Oh, and the swirling skirts are pure Neo.
And we're pretty sure there's some 1990s Trent Reznor in there somewhere
We can easily imagine Nine Inch Nails being the soundtrack to Ren's discussions with Grandpa Darth. #HeadLikeaDarthHelmet
Especially 'Something I Can Never Have'
You mean like the light saber that once belonged to Anakin and Luke? (What's the matter, Ren? Too soon?)
(Warning: Lyrics NSFW)