Long ago in Star Wars’ faraway galaxy, Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, tried to carve out a legacy for himself amongst the stars, with his pre-dark side design never getting its chance to shine on the big screen properly. Luckily for fans, Star Wars comics have shown what Ben Solo would have potentially looked like as a Jedi.
An integral part of the sprawling new cast of characters featured in Star Wars’ sequel trilogy, Kylo Ren was introduced in Star Wars: The Force Awakens as an ill-tempered antagonist with ties to three iconic heroes from the previous generation of the franchise — Han Solo, Leia Organa, and Luke Skywalker.
The son of the former pair and Padawan to the latter, Ben Solo eventually lost his way and became the villain known as Kylo Ren. Wearing a unique all-black design that highlighted his tragic fall from grace, the Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren comic showed what Ben Solo might have looked like had he become a Jedi instead.
Multiple Star Wars Comics Further Showed What Kylo Ren Could Have Looked like as a Jedi
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren – 2019 (Charles Soule and Will Sliney)
Set before The Force Awakens, the four-issue Rise of Kylo Ren series explored Ben’s backstory as he made the transition from potential Jedi recruit to full-blown Knights of Ren mastermind. Dressed in Jedi-like robes for most of this tale, Ben wears this get-up more here than he does in the films, giving fans a rare look at his heroic side.
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Star Wars has confirmed just how blind Kylo Ren was to Palpatine’s manipulations before Rise of Skywalker, completely underestimating the Sith Lord.
Additionally, the comic adaptation of Star Wars: The Last Jedi gave fans a faithful take on the events of the film, giving Ben the same Jedi-esque clothing he only briefly wore onscreen, officially lining up this blink-and-you-missed-it movie look with the Padawan threads he’s seen wearing in Rise of Kylo Ren.
Brandishing a more traditional set of Jedi robes in Rise of Kylo Ren that would make Qui-Gon Jinn, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Anakin Skywalker, and even Luke proud, Ben’s pre-Kylo Ren design saw him don earthy brown tones rather than pitch black ones, with his Jedi-like tunic giving him a kind of stylish flair sorely missing from his eventual Kylo Ren look.
Kylo Ren died when giving his lifeforce to Rey in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Meanwhile, Ben, in his fall to the dark side, decided to buck the more grounded Jedi design of his previous life, with the birth of Kylo Ren giving Ben a look that’s far more Sith-like in nature, showing how far Ben was willing to go to distance himself from the Jedi’s general aesthetic before he turned toward evil.
Ben Solo Originally Had a More Traditional Jedi Design Compared to His Kylo Ren Outfit
Ben’s Design Looked Closer to Luke’s Than Anyone Else
But for as badly as Kylo wanted to kill his old self as well as shatter the ties he once held to Luke’s new Jedi Order, Ben doesn’t always wear clothing meant to strike fear into the hearts of rebels everywhere. In fact, it’s in a recent Star Wars comic where Kylo was given even more subtle redesigns to wear.
In the current Star Wars: The Legacy of Vader comic, Kylo travels to all of his grandfather’s old haunts, often wearing some disguise or civilian clothes to blend into the populace, thus giving Kylo an even broader range of fashion choices that Ben could have easily used had he continued on the path of becoming a Jedi and hero.
After Kylo Ren’s tragic death at the end of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the character won’t be getting any new looks moving forward, but considering that the period when Luke trained Ben has still gone mostly unexplored in Star Wars lore, fans may still get a few fresh Ben Solo designs from before he broke bad.
Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren, The Last Jedi, and The Legacy of Vader are available from Marvel Comics.
- Died
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Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise Of Skywalker
- Alliance
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Jedi, First Order
- Race
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Human
- Cast
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Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, David Prowse, Carrie Fisher, Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Ian McDiarmid, Ewan McGregor, Rosario Dawson, Lars Mikkelsen, Rupert Friend, Moses Ingram, Frank Oz, Pedro Pascal
- TV Show(s)
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The Mandalorian, Andor, Obi-Wan Kenobi, The Book of Boba Fett, Ahsoka, The Acolyte, Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, Lando, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels, Star Wars: The Bad Batch, Star Wars: Resistance, Star Wars: Young Jedi Adventures, Star Wars: Visions
- Movie(s)
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Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace, Star Wars: Episode II – Attack of the Clones, Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith, Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope, Star Wars: Episode V – The Empire Strikes Back, Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi, Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, Star Wars: Episode VIII – The Last Jedi, Star Wars: Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Solo: A Star Wars Story, Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Star Wars: Dawn of the Jedi, Star Wars: New Jedi Order
- Character(s)
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Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Rey Skywalker, Emperor Palpatine / Darth Sidious, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano, Grand Admiral Thrawn, Grand Inquisitor, Reva (The Third Sister), The Fifth Brother, The Seventh Sister, The Eighth Brother, Yoda, Din Djarin, Grogu, Anakin Skywalker/Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Ben Solo/Kylo Ren
