According to Adam Driver, the actor who portrayed Kylo Ren in the Star Wars sequel trilogy, the character was not supposed to be redeemed at the end of the saga as Ben Solo.
Rather, the character was going to lose himself more and more, becoming even darker over time as the films passed.
On The Rich Eisen Podcast, Driver said “I had an overall arc in mind that [Star Wars: The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker director J.J. Abrams] wanted to do…His idea was that [Kylo’s] journey was the opposite journey of Vader, where Vader starts the most confident and the most committed to the dark side. And then by the last movie, he’s the most vulnerable and weak. He wanted to start with the opposite. This character was the most confused and vulnerable, and by the end of the three movies, he would be the most committed to the dark side. I tried to keep that arc in mind, regardless if that wound up not being the journey anyway, because it changed while shooting.”
This arc was pushed away, as Ben ultimately sacrifices himself in an effort to save Rey during the final scenes of Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker. Daisy Ridley, the actress who portrayed Rey, disclosed that her character’s backstory also changed throughout the filming of the sequel trilogy.
For example, Ridley stated that “there was toying with an Obi-Wan connection” for Rey. Ultimately, she severs ties with Emperor Palpatine in Episode IX, disowning her heritage to christen herself as a Skywalker.
Ridley is set to reprise her role as Rey in an upcoming film, initially announced at Celebration 2023 alongside three other projects. James Mangold, director of Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny, is working on a movie about the dawn of the Jedi, and Dave Filoni is concluding all the Disney+ series stories he created in a new film.