One of the biggest questions to come out of the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens was who was the mystery man in the hood walking down a snowy incline and revealing a sinister crossguard lightsaber. Well in the months after the trailer release, we learned that the person was Kylo Ren, and that he would be played by Adam Driver.

Now the interesting thing about the character is that despite his black robe garb and red lightsaber, he didn’t share the Darth title that sith lord’s receive. We got a full view of the masked character in the second teaser, but still didn’t know anything about him. So who exactly was this new villain, and how is he tied to the newly established First Order. Well, along with the new images from the film, EW has got some of the answers to those itching Kylo Ren questions. Check them out below.

The magazine’s latest piece reveals that Kylo wasn’t originally a part of the first order, but has in fact aligned himself with the former Empire. However, his motivation is very unclear. But what is confirmed is that he is a “Vader obsessive, with an appearance influenced by that dark lord of the Sith who met his demise long before Ren’s birth.” Abrams explains that the film will explain how Ren built the mask (which is probably why we saw the Vader mask in the last teaser).

The Force Awakens also introduces a new version of the lightsaber never seen before on the big screen, the crossguard lightsaber. And of course it became the subject of a polarizing debate. How could something like that function without hurting the user? Others seemed to embrace the new look of the iconic weapon. But there is a reason why this lightsaber looks wildly different from its predecessors. According to Abrams, “The lightsaber is something that he built himself, and is as dangerous and as fierce and as ragged as the character.”

Abrams doesn’t want to get ahead of himself too much, but does reveal that Kylo Ren is not the name he was born with, and in fact the name Ren is something of great importance to the story.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens also stars John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong’o, Gwendoline Christie, Domhnall Gleeson, Max von Sydow, and returning alum Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker. Disney has scheduled the film for a December 18, 2015 release.

[Source: EW]