A new piece of concept art from Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker turns Rey into Kylo Ren. Rey (Daisy Ridley) and Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) were the main protagonist and antagonist of the Star Wars sequel trilogy, which came to an end last December. Kylo Ren was the son of Leia Organa and Han Solo and turned to the dark side, while Rey was a Jedi in training, who turned out to be a descendant of Emperor Palpatine.
Rey possibly turning to the dark side was something slightly teased in Star Wars: The Last Jedi, which came full circle in The Rise of Skywalker. Rey didn't turn to the dark side despite being related to Palpatine (or more accurately a clone of Palpatine), but Rey did have a vision of herself as a Sith. The scene was brief, yet shocking all the same. Since the film's release, there have been several pieces of The Rise of Skywalker concept art come out revolving around Dark Rey, but an alternate version of the scene shows her becoming Kylo Ren.
The newest piece of Dark Rey concept art comes from artist Adam Brockbank. In this piece, Rey can be seen dressed as Kylo Ren and taking off his helmet. The piece also makes Rey look incredibly menacing by giving her orange eyes and red fading around her eyes. Brockbank's full Instagram post can be seen below:
While Rey was the main hero of the sequel trilogy, the character has received a lot of criticism that dates back to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. In the film, Rey is an incredibly talented pilot and is even able to best Kylo Ren in their lightsaber duel. Many complained that it didn't make sense for Rey to be such a powerful character without having any form of training. Then in The Last Jedi, fans were upset with the explanation that Rey's parents were nothing more than drunks, which was later retconned with the Palpatine twist, making fans even more heated.
Regardless of one's opinion on Rey, there's no doubt this is the most unique piece of Dark Rey concept art that has been released thus far. Having Dark Rey be dressed as Kylo Ren would have been a clear shoutout to The Empire Strikes Back when Luke has his vision of Darth Vader, only for his own face to be revealed under the helmet. It isn't known why Lucasfilm decided not to go this route for Dark Rey, but the decision could have elevated the scene and made Dark Rey a more interesting part of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
Source: Adam Brockbank