All The Reasons Kylo Ren Is Probably Luke Skywalker

In case you haven't heard yet, there's a new Star Wars movie coming out this December. Obviously, Disney and director J.J. Abrams have worked very hard to keep details about the story and characters secret. The trailers and promotional materials have revealed very little, especially when it comes to the film's villain, Kylo Ren. He's the mysterious man with the fancy lightsaber, and we seemingly know nothing about him. Or, maybe we know everything about him! There's wild speculation that Kylo Ren is actually the sith version of Luke Skywalker. Sound crazy? Probably. But keep reading to see our evidence and decide for yourself.

The first and most obvious thing is that, so far, Luke and Kylo Ren have never been in the same place at the same time. Sure, a lot of characters were never seen together. Boba Fett and Greedo never shared any scenes, but no one is suggesting that Fett is a returned to life Greedo zombie seeking revenge (not yet, anyway). But Luke and Kylo are really never seen together, even in promotional material. We know that Luke is going to be in the new movie—he was heard talking in the first full-length trailer, and a very brief glimpse of someone we think is him putting his hand on R2D2. He's the only main character not to appear on the poster for the movie, which is odd. One great reason to hide Hamill is because, well, he's Kylo Ren. We all know what Hamill's face looks like. It's not a spoiler. How different could he possibly look? Even if he grew a beard or got a new haircut, it's not like that can possibly be a huge plot point. They had better be holding off on showing Luke's face for more than "just because."

The biggest problem with this theory is that there are supposedly leaked, behind the scenes photos of a maskless Kylo Ren floating around the internet. These pictures show the actor on-set, in-costume, showing his definitely-not-Luke-Skywalker-face. Think about it though: how did that picture get out? Everything about the production was super secret, but someone leaked this major spoiler? Nothing has been officially released showing Ren's face. Even if it isn't Luke, they're obviously keeping it a secret for a reason. Abrams is also a master of surprises, so maybe that picture is a decoy! They probably released it on purpose to throw everybody off the scent. Also, Luke's a Jedi Knight. He probably just used a mind trick to make us think his face looked different. Obviously.

The last time we saw Luke in Return of the Jedi, he had started wearing a lot of black. He was even wearing dark gloves when he was on Tatooine. Who wears gloves in the desert? The only part of his body that wasn't covered in black was his face. Well, guess who dresses that way, even on his face? That's right: Kylo Ren looks like Luke just stepped his game up and added a mask. It makes sense, because look at the evolution of Luke's style. The further he got in his Jedi training, the more monochromatic his outfits became. He doesn't have time to match colors. He likes single, solid colors, and black is the most solid color. He started wearing the hood and mask to save time on hair combing, shaving, and brushing his teeth. He's just too busy for fashion!

Hearing Kylo Ren talk for the first time was pretty jarring. He's so scary looking, but he's got a silly robot voice. There's clearly something going on in the mask that changes the way he sounds, just like Darth Vader. The thing is, most people just thought Vader had a respirator. Only Luke and the Emperor knew that the mask was changing Vader's actual voice, and only one of those guys is still alive. Kylo Ren clearly has some sort of obsession with Vader, and he's mimicking his idol. He's probably wearing the mask just to honor Vader, but why would he use the voice changer? Wouldn't it make more sense to add the respirator noise? On the other hand, it would make sense for Luke to change his voice. He has to hide his identity, and he's also aware of how accurate of a Vader tribute it actually is.

Lightsabers are super sweet, so they must be really hard to make. If not, then everybody would have one. They're cool looking, they're super powerful, and they're much more effective than blasters. So far, the only person we've ever seen make their own lightsaber is Luke. He built it after he lost his father's saber when his hand got cut off. Clearly, Kylo Ren has a custom built model with the added hilt. Since lightsabers can't just be bought at Space Wal-Mart, it begs the question: where did this come from? There's two options. First, Kylo made it because he's Luke and he's done it before. Second, Luke made it for Kylo, which would be super weird. It's got a red blade, which are exclusively used by Sith Lords. If someone asks for a red bladed lightsaber, they're basically asking for weapon to kill innocent people with. At this point, Luke had better be Kylo Ren or else he's got some explaining to do.

When Luke escapes the Death Star at the end of Return of the Jedi, he brought Darth Vader's body with him. Then he lands on Endor, in the middle of the woods, builds a fire, and burns the body and armor. Then, in trailers for The Force Awakens, we're shown footage of Kylo Ren talking to Vader's burned helmet. How did he know where to get that? How could he possibly know to even look for body, or that Luke even takes it with him? Was Luke going around, being a creep, and telling people where to find his dad's body? Did Kylo Ren just go searching the woods of Endor, hoping to randomly find Vader's armor? Was he just hoping that maybe the was funeral pyre somewhere on the forest moon? The only way this makes any sense is if Luke went back later and took the helmet home. He was probably like, "just in case I ever turn evil, I'll probably want to make speeches at this thing!" It's a pretty sensible move when you think about it.