‘Star Wars: The Force Awakens’ Shows Off an Intimidating Kylo Ren in New Photo

We were under the impression that we wouldn’t see any more new footage from Star Wars: The Force Awakens after the release of the second — and final — official trailer. We were also under the impression that after last week’s flood of new info and images, we wouldn’t be seeing or hearing much else until next month. We were obviously wrong. Disney continues to release new imagery and TV spots for the upcoming film, as if we needed any more convincing. But hey, we might as well enjoy this new photo of Kylo Ren since it’s already here.

Empire debuted this new image of Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren, the big bad villain from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, flanked by First Order stormtroopers and wielding that intriguing lightsaber:

As we learned over the past week, Kylo Ren’s crossguard lightsaber is based on an ancient design, one that likely predates anything we’ve seen in the previous Star Wars films.

Driver also offered his take on the villainous role, explaining that he never viewed Kylo Ren as a bad guy:

When they think of their actions as morally justified, it makes them dangerous and unpredictable. There’s no level they won’t go to to accomplish what they’re after. I never thought of the character as an evil person.

That’s a great way to approach playing a nefarious character, and should lend some interesting shading and depth to the new character.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18.

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