Adam Driver’s Kylo Ren could’ve had an entirely different name and character arc in Star Wars: Episode VII — The Force Awakens. One resurfaced concept art for the film revealed that Kylo Ren was known as The Grave Robber. In the concept art, the character had a cyborg arm and he was seen holding Darth Vader’s helmet. However, it is interesting to know that the character never made it past the concept art.
The concept art was created by artist Christian Alzmann for The Force Awakens in 2013. Alzmann has designed several concept art for Lucasfilm, including The Mandalorian. Alzmann also designed a ‘Jedi Killer’ persona of Kylo Ren and both paintings look cooler than what fans actually got.
Adam Driver’s ‘The Grave Robber’ Looks Way Better Than The Kylo Ren We Got
Star Wars fans could’ve got a much better and more mysterious Kylo Ren if he were introduced as The Grave Robber avatar. One of the interesting aspects of Adam Driver‘s character in The Force Awakens was his relationship with Darth Vader. Just like how Anakin Skywalker was influenced by Darth Plagueis, Kylo Ren believed he had a connection with the Darth Vader.
While it all turned out to be the mind games of Palpatine, Kylo’s obsession landed him with the melted helmet of Vader. Even before the script for the film was ready, the melted helmet was an idea that was discussed widely in the Disney Star Wars circle. From there, the helmet made it into Christian Alzmann‘s cool concept art.
However, Kylo Ren was still under development at this point and the art went with the theme of The Grave Robber. The character had a cyborg arm and looked so much cooler and scarier than the character fans got in the film. The concept art recently resurfaced on X, posted by @sw_tweets. It was first posted by the page in 2021.
Kylo Ren concept art for 'The Force Awakens'
Early on, he had a cyborg arm and was known as ‘The Grave Robber’ because he was seen holding Darth Vader’s remains (mostly his helmet) pic.twitter.com/LcjNDTaXe8
— Star Wars Facts (@sw_tweets) June 18, 2024
Alzmann also designed another painting for The Force Awakens in which the ‘Jedi Killer’ murders Han Solo (via Instagram). The Jedi Killer too was a cooler version of Kylo Ren that fans never got to see. From the concept art, it was clear that the team had lengthy discussions before fixing the current arc for Driver’s character.
Fans Love ‘The Grave Robber’ More Than Kylo Ren From The Movies
Fans on X loved the idea of The Grave Robber. One fan mentioned that it appeared cooler than Kylo Ren from the movies. They also noted that the concept art and early draft ideas seemed better than the final product. Another fan too agreed, sharing that the unused concepts in the film were awesome. One fan shared that it was such a missed opportunity.
One fan pointed out that the filmmakers could’ve gone much deeper into the Star Wars lore with The Grave Robber character. According to the fan, Adam Driver’s character could have gone into the old temples and used old weapons that the modern world wasn’t used to. However, one fan mentioned that though the Grave Robber angle seemed cooler, the storyline would’ve been similar to the General Grievous character from the original trilogy. Some of the fan reactions read:
This seems cooler than what we got. Seems to be the case every time I see concept art or early on ideas for stories.
— Trash & Kurb (@TRASHandKURB) June 19, 2024
so many of the unused ideas and concepts were awesome. This is a prime example.
— Herb Scribner (@HerbScribner) September 23, 2023
Such a missed opportunity
— Austin Sutherland (@IAMAVER1CK1) September 22, 2023
Daaamn "the Grave robber" sounds so cool!! I imagine him going deep into old temples and whatnot to use old weapons which the modern world isn't used to
I feel like that's what we're going with in Ahsoka right? 👀— Shazam! ⚡ (@ShazayumArt) September 23, 2023
I like this, and could have taken the story to a more interesting place over the movies, but, I can understand the change as it would be a very General Grievous style character, and just re-hashing the Vader/Luke injuries
None the less, what a character concept idea right there
— Dave (@UK_DC_One) September 23, 2023
Despite the criticisms against Kylo Ren in the movies, it is undeniable that the movie went in a direction different from the earlier Star Wars movies. It made the experience unique, though it didn’t work for many of the fans of the original and prequel trilogy.
The Star Wars sequel trilogy is now available for streaming on Disney+.
