'Star Wars 9': New comic will show Ben's "tragic" evolution into Kylo Ren

A lot of the current problems with the First Order the Resistance is facing ahead of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker probably could have been avoided had Luke Skywalker not be so darn paranoid about his former apprentice, Ben Solo. A new Star Wars comic from Marvel is said to explore just what happened to Ben that turned him into Kylo Ren.

Several weeks ago, at Fan Expo Toronto in Canada (which took place from August 22 through August 25), Star Wars comic book writer Charles Soule talked a little bit about his upcoming four-issue miniseries, The Rise of Kylo Ren.

The first issue will be released on December 4, and will continue into 2020.

As its title implies, the series is all about Kylo Ren, his involvement with the Knights of Ren, and just how his relationship with Luke Skywalker disintegrated and pushed him to the Dark Side. It is indeed the “origin” of Kylo Ren, or as Soule told Canadian fans, “Ben to Ren.”

“You know, Ben Solo is tragic,” Soule said (via Comic Book Resources). “The potential of him from the day he was born, everyone around him saw or thought they saw what he could be. So he was put in all these different paths, and we’ve kind of seen how that’s gone wrong in the films so far. This is a story about Ben Solo, understanding some of the choices he made.”

As fans saw (at least from Luke’s point of view) in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, Luke feared the darkness that inhabited in his apprentice. In a moment of fear, Luke attempted to kill his student, to Ben’s horror. The betrayal broke Ben, leading him to become the Sith fanatic, Kylo Ren. Soule’s comic is expected to explore the events that led to that fateful night as well as immediately afterward, to when Ben became Kylo and formed the Knights of Ren.

Soule, an immigration attorney turned comic book writer (which made his run on Daredevil nothing short of awesome), has been attached to Marvel’s Star Wars for several years. He’s written the miniseries Obi-Wan & Anakin, Lando, Poe Dameron, and Darth Vader: Dark Lord of the Sith, which introduced another squadron of baddies who hunted the Jedi, called the Inquisitors.

The Knights of Ren, Kylo Ren’s former associates whom fans have only heard of and seen in abstract flashbacks in 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens (and are expected to finally appear in Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) will also play a role in The Rise of Kylo Ren.

Soule, who said of the Knights of Ren: “They’re not good people … but they’re people.”

Back in July, when The Rise of Kylo Ren was first announced, Soule wrote on his personal blog his excitement to write the series.

“This is the Star Wars story we’ve all wanted to see since we saw Rey’s visions when she first touched Anakin Skywalker’s lightsaber in The Force Awakens,” Soule wrote. “It’s the story of Ben Solo being turned to the Dark Side and becoming Kylo Ren, as well as the tale of some of the most enigmatic and fascinating villains in all of Star Wars today - the Knights of Ren.”

Star Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #1 will be released on December 4. Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker will be released on December 20.