The first poster for Star Wars: Episode IX leaked online today and revealed numerous new details about the highly-anticipated closer to the saga’s Sequel Trilogy. One of the most notable is the confirmation that the Knights of Ren will appear in the movie. The mysterious underlings of Kylo Ren have only been glimpsed in The Force Awakens up to now but Episode IX looks set to properly introduce them to audiences.
And we here at We Got This Covered can now confirm what role the Knights will play in the film. According to our source, they’ll act as the main villains of the piece. From what we understand, the Knights of Ren are said to have a large part in Episode IX and will display “a great understanding of the Force.”
There’s been a lot of speculation about the true nature of the group, and if our info’s correct, this detail about them having a deep knowledge of the Force adds a new wrinkle to our theories. The generally-assumed explanation for their origins is that they, like Ben Solo, are former students of Luke’s at his Jedi Academy who were turned to the dark side by Supreme Leader Snoke.
To date, the order has only been glimpsed in a vision Rey received when she first held the lightsaber that once belonged to Anakin and Luke Skywalker, which saw Ren leading them through an unknown terrain on a rainy night. Director Rian Johnson has explained that he left them out of The Last Jedi as the storyline was already too full, though he considered using them in place of the Praetorian Guards in the “Kylo kills Snoke” scene.
J.J. Abrams must be glad that Johnson didn’t go with that plan, as it would’ve significantly changed the plot of his follow-up movie, by the sounds of it. And we’ll see just what he has in store for us when Star Wars: Episode IX hits theaters on December 20th.