Abrams on 'Star Wars: Force Awakens' First Order, Kylo Ren 'Not a Sith'

A new interview with Star Wars: The Force Awakens Director J.J. Abrams has revealed two small, crucial details about the enigmatic First Order and cloaked shadow Kylo Ren. Speaking to Empire, Abrams explained that he’s simplified the maze of intergalactic politics by embracing a “good” and “evil” model inspired by the post-World War II era.

This is a small extrapolation of what Abrams has already said about the First Order filling out ranks with sympathizers, but it’s nice to know the new law and order of a galaxy far away has a sense of wartime adventure and not Tuesday bureaucracy.

That all came out of conversations about what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again? What could be born of that? Could The First Order exist as a group that actually admired The Empire? Could the work of The Empire be seen as unfulfilled? And could Vader be a martyr? Could there be a need to see through what didn’t get done?

The Phantom Menace begins so sluggishly because it is bogged down in trade agreements and the sort of crap politics even The West Wing ignored. By the time Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan whip out their lightsabers it’s more of a relief than anything.

Also new is the idea that Kylo Ren, the antagonist portrayed by Adam Driver, is “not a Sith” but “works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a powerful figure on the Dark Side of the Force.” Though it’s been hinted that Kylo Ren is the galaxy’s biggest Darth Vader fan, he hasn’t walked the philosophical path of slaughtered children that Anakin paved. Let’s hope he doesn’t.