Kylo Ren is quite the controversial character in the history of Star Wars, going from one of the biggest villains of the latest film trilogy to a hero in his final moments. When it comes to Marvel Comics’ Star Wars universe, the franchise can explore timelines and moments in time that otherwise would have never been featured. Such is definitely the case with Star Wars: Legacy of Vader as the comic book series is examining the life of Han and Leia’s only son at a unique time in his life. When all is said and done, does Kylo’s new comic series do enough to justify its existence in a galaxy far, far away.
Legacy of Vader takes place almost immediately following the death of the Supreme Chancellor Snoke in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. For those who might not know, this was a very important period in Kylo Ren’s life as he had helped to eliminate the former ruler and taken on the First Order for himself. Obviously, Ren has quite a bit of turbulence when it comes to what he should do next, deciding to take a trip to Mustafar to forge a path forward. Encountering a familiar face from Darth Vader’s past, the former Ben Solo attempts to discover how to truly kill the past.
To start, this comic feels like quite the character study of Kylo Ren, with a scene of the Sith introducing the fact that the First Order’s previous leader has died in quite the stunning display. Throughout the original trilogy, Darth Vader, for the most part, was a calm and collected antagonist, stretching his shadow across the galaxy to assist Emperor Palpatine from closing his fist around existence. Ren is “not that guy” as he continues to struggle with his origin story and his own thoughts and feelings in attempting to build his own Empire. Both the action scenes and the more quite moments focusing on his internal struggles, we certainly get a better grasp on the mental state of Ren immediately following The Last Jedi.
The best character moments we see from Kylo here are two-fold, wherein the first is his encounter with the odious General Hux and the latter being a tete-a-tete with the helmet of Darth Vader. These two exchanges work well in both showing us the malicious confidence of Ren following Snoke’s death, along with the insecurities that continue to bubble within him. The latter especially feels like such a key component of the character, thrashing against parts of himself that he doesn’t like and attempting to bash them into place like a child would. Of course, emotional struggles are far from the only action that Legacy of Vader has to offer.
When Kylo Ren arrives on Mustafar in an attempt to bury Darth Vader’s past specifically, he encounters the shorter guardians of the fortress, helping to create quite the action sequence. The series gives us some truly brutal moments as Ben hacks and cracks his way through the obstacles in his path, thanks in part to Luke Ross’ fantastic direction in terms of his artwork. The set piece itself is loud, crude, and most importantly, still holds the aesthetic of Star Wars.
Writer Charles Soule is no stranger to the Star Wars universe, having written plenty of entries into the Marvel Comics Extended Universe. With his take on Kylo Ren here, it might not break the wheel in terms of offering any new insight as to who Ben Solo is at this point in time, but it works well in terms of justifying its own existence as a story happening between Episodes 8 and 9. Soule brings a lot to the table here, not just in an exploration of Kylo, but also with his in-depth knowledge of the Star Wars universe, using characters that many might have forgotten about to great effect.
As mentioned earlier, Luke Ross does some amazing work here, capturing the looks of the actors from the live-action films and perfectly bringing them to the page. Dare I say, Ross is able to make Kylo Ren look far more villainous in this series than in the films while still clearly capturing the aesthetic of actor Adam Driver. The artist’s work here is both grandiose as well as true to the First Order characters, making for quite the nice mix.
Star Wars: Legacy of Vader is an entertaining and informative look at the character of Kylo Ren. While it doesn’t necessarily reveal shocking new secrets about Ben Solo, it stands on its own and might be a worthy pick up for those who are fans of Adam Driver’s Sith.
Published by: Marvel Comics
On: February 5th, 2025
Written by: Charles Soule
Art by: Luke Ross
Colors by: Nolan Woodard
Letters by: VC’s Joe Caramagna
Kylo Ren gets his own series to break free from his past. Read More