'Kylo Ren Is Not a Sith': JJ Abrams Reveals STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Secrets

Things could change after Star Wars: The Force Awakens hits theaters, but at this point, Kylo Ren is the breakout character from the new movie. Ever since fans first saw him ignite his broadsword lightsaber in that first teaser trailer, Kylo Ren has captured the attention of the Star Wars universe.

Director JJ Abrams has slowly been dropping hints about Kylo Ren's background. After revealing that the name "Kylo Ren" was adopted by the character in honor of his membership in the mysterious Knights of Ren, Abrams dropped a big piece of The Force Awakens info to Empire.

"Kylo Ren is not a Sith."

Thanks to a long line of Star Wars villains who wielding red lightsabers and were Sith lords — Darth Vader, Darth Sidious, Darth Maul, Count Dooku — it's easy to forget that using the Dark Side of the Force doesn't mean a character is a Sith. General Grievous in Revenge of the Sith and the Inquisitor in Star Wars Rebels weren't Sith.

"[Kylo Ren] works under Supreme Leader Snoke, who is a powerful figure on the Dark Side of the Force," Abrams told Empire. Snoke is the character who Andy Serkis is bringing to life via motion-capture performance.

Abrams also shared some interesting background on the thinking behind the First Order. How did the successor to the Empire come into existence?

"That all came out of conversations about what would have happened if the Nazis all went to Argentina but then started working together again?" Abrams told Empire. "What could be born of that? Could The First Order exist as a group that actually admired The Empire? Could the work of The Empire be seen as unfulfilled? And could Vader be a martyr? Could there be a need to see through what didn’t get done?"

We've heard rumors that Kylo Ren idolizes Vader, so this new information syncs with what we know about The Force Awakens. The audience knows that Vader redeemed himself by tossing Palpatine down that shaft on the Death Star, but would the galaxy at large know that? Would Imperial soldiers or Rebel fighters believe that Vader — the man who hunted the Jedi to extinction — turned on the Emperor in his final moments? Odds are it wouldn't be hard to convince the galaxy that Vader died protecting the Empire.