Spoilers forStar Wars: The Rise of Kylo Ren #6!It’s a widely accepted fact that inStar Warsmythos, Han Solo shot Greedo first, no matter the controversial changes made post-Star Wars: A New Hope’s 1977 release, with a recent sequel trilogy-era Star Wars comic giving the next generation of characters their own “Han shot first” moment that makes the original even better.
A phrase that means a few things to Star Wars fans, depending on who you ask,Han shooting firsteither paints Star Wars’ lovable smuggler as a ruthless killer or a brilliant tacticianwhen gunning Greedo down, a conversation that thickened further with 1997’s Special Edition rerelease ofStar Wars: A New Hope.
Altering events so that it looks like Han shot his blaster a split secondafterGreedo fired on him, this new cut of Episode IV ignited a huge fan debate in the years that followed, with the latest issue ofStar Wars: The Rise of Kylo Rengiving Kylo Ren his own version of “Han shot first.”
Kylo Ren’s Latest Act Is a New Take on Star Wars’ Iconic “Han Shot First” Moment
Star Wars: The Legacy of Vader #6 - 2025 (Charles Soule and Luke Ross)
Following Supreme Leader Kylo Ren in between the events ofStar Wars: The Last JediandStar Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the sixth issue ofThe Rise of Kylo Rensees the titular villain on a mission torecount Darth Vader’s historywhile sniffing out any remaining Jedi who may cause him grief.
Landing on the planet Lahtee, Kylo makes his way to a local town’s watering hole to ask about a hidden Jedi he knows to be in the area. Taking the smooth and subtle approach at first, Kylo orders some wine and inquires about anyone “unusual” in town, only to immediately lose his patience and “shoot first,” Han Solo style.
Reacting in an unnecessarily hostile way to the bartender’s combative “You mean… other than you?” response, Kylo starts to use his patentedForce Mind Probe abilityto extract the Jedi’s whereabouts forcibly, while terrorizing the patrons of the bar in a way that resembles the initial reactions of those seated in the cantina after Han killed Greedo.
Kylo has already visited Mustafar, Tatooine, and Naboo in hisLegacy of Vadertravels.
ThoughKylo’s reasoning for “shooting first” may be a far cry from why Han did the same to Greedo, the fact that Kylo wanted to get ahead of any messy dealings with the bartender displays shades of his father’s mind, as Han’s split-second thinking in killing Greedo before he could do Han any harm is well-represented by Kylo here.
Han Shot First To Protect Himself While Kylo Ren Struck First Because He Was Impatient
Both Kylo and Han’s Preemptive Attacks Worked to Their Benefit
Less a preemptive strike to protect himself from danger and more a tactic to get answers quickly and protect his mission’s interests,Kylo “shooting first” isn’t exactly the most subtle way to get information, but like Han and his scene with Greedo proves, sometimes altering a plan on the fly is exactly what a situation calls for.
Though this is a cool comic-exclusive Star Wars moment and a subtle callback toHan shooting Greedo deadon Tatooine, Kylo really didn’t have to do the bartender in the way he did to get the information he needed, showing the stark difference between how Han deals with things compared to his son.
And while Kylo Ren does his best to mirror one ofHan Solo’smanygreat scenesin this comic,nothing can beat the original “Han shot first” moment, especially this one, ensuring that this stapleStar Warsevent still stands as one of the best in the long and storied saga of a galaxy far, far away.
Star Wars: The Legacy of Vader #6is available from Marvel Comics.
Star Wars
Star Wars is a multimedia franchise that started in 1977 by creator George Lucas. After the release of Star Wars: Episode IV- A New Hope (originally just titled Star Wars), the franchise quickly exploded, spawning multiple sequels, prequels, TV shows, video games, comics, and much more. After Disney acquired the rights to the franchise, they quickly expanded the universe on Disney+, starting with The Mandalorian.
