Slater's performance as Ren received positive critical reception, leading to interest in him reprising his role in live-action media on Disney+.

[7] Soule created Ren to serve as a "foil" to Darth Vader, similarly scarred and burned below the neck, but charismatic and open in personality, embracing his damage rather than hiding it from view.

He's someone you could have a beer with, in theory [with the] entire seductiveness of the dark side poured into one character engineered for Ben Solo [being] Ren, [as the] sort of a charming evil rascal that can be really fun to write".

Speaking of Slater's casting, Josh Rimes stated that "We knew Christian has always been a big Star Wars fan and has loved what we do in animation.

Sometime later, Ren leads his Knights to an ancient Jedi outpost on Elphrona to loot its treasures, only to find Luke Skywalker, his Padawan Ben Solo, and explorer Lor San Tekka.

While deeming the death as not good enough for membership, as Snoke had vouched for Solo, Ren allows him to accompany the Knights anyway on a mission to the Minemoon of Mimban in search of a relic called a Mindsplinter, gifting him a set of black clothes.

War of the Bounty Hunters (2021) and Crimson Reign (2021–2022), also written by Soule with artist Steven Cummings, features a younger Ren and the Knights of Ren, consisting of a much larger group, both masked and unmasked, during the reign of the Galactic Empire, as their services are hired by Qi'ra, a former disciple of Maul, on behalf of her crime syndicate, Crimson Dawn.

[15][16] In the present, after finishing telling Dameron the story and tricking Force-sensitive child Dean into opening a Sith holocron for him, Vaneé dons armour and Ren's helmet, using the holocron to give himself artificial Force sensitivity, before being knocked into lava by Dameron and Dean; unbeknownst to both, Vaneé survives, with Ren's helmet intact.