‘Star Wars’: Behind-the-Scenes Photo of the Knights of Ren Stirs Sequel Trilogy Disappointment
Star Wars is one of the most popular film franchises of all time. The fictional space opera was first created in the seventies, and over the decades, has expanded to include over a dozen films, several animated shows, hundreds of comic books and novels, and much more.
Fans love the franchise, and show their affection, year after year, by attending fan conventions and endlessly discussing the characters and storylines online. Still, the most recent trilogy of Star Wars films has caused a lot of controversy in the fan base.
Recently, some fans on Reddit discussed one particular group of characters featured in the sequel trilogy, and why they think the sequel trilogy had a lot of missed opportunities.
The ‘Star Wars’ sequel trilogy is very controversial among fans
The Star Wars sequel trilogy kicked off in 2015 with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. While the film became a box-office smash, breaking records and making Disney a lot of money, fans were divided. Many claimed that the film was too derivative, and didn’t have enough originality to claim the title of a proper Star Wars film.
The second sequel film, Star Wars: The Last Jedi, proved to be even more divisive. A lot of fans slammed the storyline and the way that Rian Johnson directed the film, complaining about the character arc that Johnson gave Luke Skywalker. After Johnson caused so much controversy, Disney brought back JJ Abrams, the director of The Force Awakens, to try to salvage the fandom by directing the final movie in the sequel trilogy, The Rise of Skywalker. Unfortunately, the mess proved too big for Abrams to fix, and The Rise of Skywalker divided the fan community even further.
Sequel trilogy: Who are the Knights of Ren?
The sequel trilogy introduced many new characters, from the new Jedi Rey to the adorable round droid, BB-8. While some of these characters got a lot of screentime, others, not so much. The Knights of Ren were first introduced to audiences in The Force Awakens, and referenced as Kylo Ren’s sinister task force, but they were only seen on-screen for a few brief seconds.
In spite of their super-short bit of screentime, fans were hopeful that they would see the team of elite warriors again before the trilogy was over, and even convinced that they would have a significant role to play. Unfortunately, this was not to be.
Fans are disappointed that the Knights of Ren were barely used
When The Rise of Skywalker was released in 2019, fans were quick to note that the film didn’t exactly follow through with many of the plot points set up in the previous films, and in some cases, veered off into another direction entirely. This seemed to be the case with the Knights of Ren, who appeared in just a few scenes, never removing their masks and having little to do with the overall plot.
Recently, fans on Reddit discussed what they deemed to be a missed opportunity with the Knights of Ren. “So much wasted potential,” one fan stated, while another said “I think the trilogy as a whole could’ve benefited in some areas from having them around earlier.”
A few posters debated how the Knights could have contributed to the sequel trilogy’s storyline, with some reiterating that the franchise, in general, would do well to have more projects featuring the mysterious group of warriors: “I hope to get more content about these guys.”
Clearly, Disney would be missing the bandwagon to retire the Knights of Ren for good. Hopefully, fans will be able to at least get some more information about the Knights in the form of some comics or books, at the very least.
